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Cuba has acquired over 300 military drones and recently discussed plans to use them to attack the U.S. base at Guantanamo Bay, U.S. military vessels and possibly Key West, Florida, according to classified intelligence shared with Axios.
In the report by Axios, the intelligence shows the extent to which the Trump administration sees Cuba as a threat because of developments in drone warfare and the presence of Iranian military advisers in Havana, a senior U.S. official told Axios.
“When we think about those types of technologies being that close, and a range of bad actors from terror groups to drug cartels to Iranians to the Russians, it’s concerning,” the official said. “It’s a growing threat.”
U.S. officials said Cuba has been acquiring attack drones of “varying capabilities” from Russia and Iran since 2023 and has stored them in strategic locations across the island.
Within the past month, Cuban officials sought more drones and military equipment from Russia, the senior U.S. official said.
The official cited intelligence intercepts that also indicated Cuban intelligence officials are “trying to learn about how Iran has resisted us.”
Russia and China have high-tech espionage facilities for collecting signals intelligence, known as SIGINT, in Cuba.
“We’ve long been concerned that a foreign adversary using that kind of location that close to our shores is highly problematic,” Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart, a Miami Republican, during a congressional hearing Tuesday.
CIA Director John Ratcliffe traveled to Cuba on Thursday and warned officials there against engaging in hostilities, a CIA official told Axios.
He also urged them to scrap their totalitarian government to end crippling U.S. sanctions.
“Director Ratcliffe made clear that Cuba can no longer serve as a platform for adversaries to advance hostile agendas in our hemisphere,” the CIA official said.
“The Western Hemisphere cannot be our adversaries’ playground,” the official added.
A spokesperson for Cuba could not be reached Saturday for comment.
The Department of Justice is expected Wednesday to unseal an indictment of Cuba’s de facto leader, Raul Castro, for allegedly ordering the 1996 downing of two planes flown by the Miami-based aid group Brothers to the Rescue.
Hegseth also confirmed Castro’s complicity in ordering the Brothers to the Rescue shootdown in response to Diaz-Balart during the hearing.
More sanctions against Cuba could be announced this week.
U.S. concerns about possible drone attacks on American forces have grown after Iran used unmanned aircraft in response to U.S. attacks that began Feb. 28.
Iranian drones have damaged U.S. bases in the Middle East, helped close the Strait of Hormuz and threatened neighboring Persian Gulf states, along with missile attacks.
U.S. officials estimate that as many as 5,000 Cuban soldiers have fought for Russia in Ukraine and that some informed Cuba’s military leaders about the effectiveness of drone warfare.
Russia has paid Cuba’s government about $25,000 for each soldier deployed in Ukraine, U.S. officials estimate.
“They’re part of the Putin meat grinder. They’re learning about Iranian tactics. It’s something we have to plan for,” the senior official said.
U.S. officials do not believe Cuba poses an imminent threat or is actively planning to attack American interests.
However, U.S. intelligence indicates Cuban military officials have been discussing drone warfare plans in case hostilities erupt as relations with Washington continue to deteriorate.
Cuba cannot close the Straits of Florida in the same way Iran has brought shipping to a standstill in the Strait of Hormuz, U.S. officials said.
U.S. officials also do not believe Cuba is as serious a military threat as it was during the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis.
“No one’s worried about fighter jets from Cuba. It’s not even clear they have one that can fly,” the senior U.S. official said.
“But it’s worth noting how close they are—90 miles,” the official added. “It’s not a reality we are comfortable with.”
Cuba is classified by the U.S. as a state sponsor of terror and is considered by Washington to be the “head of the snake,” exporting revolutionary Marxism across Latin America.
The Castro government is closer than ever to falling since it seized power in the 1959 revolution, largely because of U.S. sanctions and financial mismanagement by the Marxist government, according to the Axios report.
One former Cuban ally, Venezuela’s Nicolas Maduro, was removed from power in a Jan. 3 U.S. raid. Since Maduro’s removal, the U.S. has begun normalizing relations with Venezuela and learned more about Cuba’s drone program.
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