US aerial reconnaissance has intensified off the coast of Cuba. This has happened before operations in Venezuela and Iran — media reports
CNN reports this, citing publicly available flight data.
Since early February, the US Navy and Air Force have carried out at least 25 such flights using manned aircraft and drones. Most of them flew near the country’s two largest cities — Havana and Santiago de Cuba — and some approached the coast to within about 64 km, according to FlightRadar24 data.
Most of the flights were carried out by P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft, designed for surveillance and reconnaissance. An RC-135V Rivet Joint aircraft, which specialises in gathering electronic intelligence, was also used. In addition, several MQ-4C Triton high-altitude reconnaissance drones took part in the missions.
These flights are attracting attention not only because of their proximity to the coast, which allows for effective intelligence gathering, but also because of the suddenness of their appearance — until February, such publicly visible missions in this area were extremely rare.
Moreover, the US has recently stepped up pressure on Cuba. In particular, on 1 May, US President Donald Trump expanded sanctions against Cuba, extending them to ‘agents, officials or persons providing material support to the Cuban government’, those who support Cuban security forces, as well as those ‘involved in government corruption or serious human rights abuses’. And the following day, he joked that the US Navy might “drop in on Cuba on the way home” after an operation against Iran.
CNN notes that similar situations, where heightened rhetoric from the Trump administration was accompanied by an increase in reconnaissance flights, preceded the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro in early January 2026, as well as the start of US operations in Iran in February.
Follow us on Telegram
