United States Expands Surveillance Aircraft Near Cuba, Tracking Three Drones
The US military has been publicly broadcasting the movements of surveillance aircraft near Cuba since 11 May, and Verify analysis of Flightradar24 data shows at least five US Navy P-8A Poseidon aircraft and three MQ-4C Triton drones in the Caribbean. Some flights came within 50 miles of the island, including one P-8 that approached southern Cuba on 11 May.
Flights near Havana and southern Cuba
On 12 May, the same P-8 was seen flying north of Havana before returning to Jacksonville, Florida. On 15 May, two MQ-4C Triton surveillance drones operated off the coast of southern Cuba and followed a route similar to one previously flown by a Poseidon. The pattern points to sustained activity, not a single pass.
Dr Steve Wright said leaving the transponders on is likely deliberate and that the US intends to send “a clear message it has eyes in the sky to maintain the squeeze.” Mark Cancian, a retired US Marine Corps colonel and senior adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said the recurrent flight paths “indicate an intention to spot ship arrivals from the south, primarily, and secondarily from the north.”
Washington and Havana pressure points
Cancian also said, “None of the flights are over land, so this is not some preparation for invasion,” and added that he doubts the flights are “routine” because the number of P-8s and MQ-4C Tritons the US has at its disposal is limited. The public flight tracking matters because military aircraft do not always broadcast their positions, so what appears on open websites can show only part of the wider US presence off Cuba.
The flights come as US-Cuba tensions have risen significantly in recent months after Washington imposed an effective oil blockade on Cuba. The fuel crisis has led to major power blackouts and protests, while experts say the public nature of the flights suggests pressure on the Cuban government and a message to allies such as Venezuela about energy shipments.
Marco Rubio and Cuba
On Wednesday, Marco Rubio offered what he called a “new relationship” with the Cuban people in a direct address spoken in Spanish on the anniversary of Cuba’s independence from the US. Rubio blamed Cuba’s “unimaginable hardships” on its communist leadership, not the US fuel blockade. The next visible test will be whether the same flight pattern continues over the Caribbean or shifts in response to Cuba’s reaction.
