Cuba may have acquired small, portable and easy-to-operate suicide drones, the new deadly buzz heard around the world.
The island nation has allegedly received more than 300 of the drones, Axios reported, citing classified intelligence reports. Though it’s unclear what type of attack drones are allegedly in Cuba, the technology is being circulated throughout the globe and is currently being used in multiple conflicts, from the deserts of the Middle East to the forests of Ukraine.
Iran first mass-produced the Shahed drones, and then Russia and China improved the design and reduced production costs, renaming them the Geran-2 and Feilong-300D, according to the U.S. Treasury Department.
Cheap to produce, agile, and small enough to fit in shipping containers in large quantities, the drones pose the latest challenge for militaries across the globe. The military-industrial complex largely relies on big, expensive pieces of equipment to fight its wars, which these drones are designed to target.
A Russian Ilyushin Il-76 military cargo aircraft touched down in Cuba on Feb. 2, similar to what happened in Venezuela before the U.S. strikes took place, according to Defense News, signaling that Moscow could be helping the communist island nation prepare for a potential American strike. Russian nuclear submarines have also recently used Cuban ports, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth said during the Senate hearing on May 12.
A cargo aircraft of this size could easily have delivered hundreds of these drones to Cuba, given how small they can be made for shipping and storage. Ukraine launched a surprise attack on Russian bombers on June 1, 2025, in which it launched drones that were stored in “wooden containers,” allowing them to get close to the target area, the Associated Press reported.
‘Very Likely’
Some interventionists are pushing a war with Cuba, which could be perilous to Americans at home.
Hegseth said he believes Cuba is a national security threat to the United States during a Senate appropriations subcommittee hearing on May 12 in response to a question from Florida Rep. Mario Díaz-Balart. One national security expert told the Daily Caller News Foundation that Cuba may have access to Russian, Chinese or Iranian suicide drones.
“They [Cuba] have had this alliance with Russia and China and even North Korea and Iran,” national security expert Brandon Weichert told the DCNF. “They have been given access to the systems of those countries. It is very likely that on some level, they have some element of those weapons.”
Iranian Shahed-131 and Shahed-136 one-way attack drones have estimated ranges of roughly 560 miles and 1,550 miles, respectively, according to a Defense Intelligence Agency report comparing Iranian UAV systems with Houthi and Russian variants. With these ranges, the drones could strike deep into Florida and even Puerto Rico with lighter payloads.
“I wouldn’t want to reveal anything that should be classified, but we don’t want foreign adversaries attempting to use that island [Cuba],” Hegseth said during the May Senate hearing.
“SOUTHCOM works with DoW, federal Interagency partners, and partner nations to maintain all domain awareness and readiness, including monitoring the proliferation of unmanned systems, drones, and other military activity in the Western Hemisphere,” a SOUTHCOM spokesperson told the DCNF. “SOUTHCOM maintains plans to respond to air and missile threats, in coordination with federal partners.”
U.S. spy planes have recently increased their operations around Cuba, The New York Times reported, and photographs of CIA chief John Ratcliffe meeting with Cuban officials were released Thursday.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio has frequently commented on the Cuban government in the past.
“If I lived in Havana and I was in the government, I would be concerned at least a little bit,” Rubio said during a news conference on Jan. 3.
Rubio shook hands with Gen. Francis L. Donovan in front of a map of Cuba during the 2026 Chiefs of Mission Conference in a photo that was posted by the official SOUTHCOM X account on May 5.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio visited #SOUTHCOM today and met with Gen. Francis L. Donovan. Their discussions focused on U.S. efforts to counter threats that undermine security, stability and democracy in our hemisphere.
Should the U.S. consider military action in response to Cuba's acquisition of suicide drones?The Secretary attended the 2026 Chiefs of Mission… pic.twitter.com/eKirEOWWhz
— U.S. Southern Command (@Southcom) May 5, 2026
“Gen. Donovan met with Secretary Rubio to discuss matters related to the SOUTHCOM area of responsibility,” a SOUTHCOM spokesperson told the DCNF. “Due to operational security and force protection, we do not discuss details about ongoing operations or operational contingency plans in the region.”
‘Anti-Ship Ballistic Missiles’
“The key thing here, though, is they probably do have access to the drones and the missiles and because of their geographical proximity to Florida … it’s a problem for Floridians,” Weichert told the DCNF. “Ultimately, I really do not think the Cubans would risk first attacking Florida. I think they would first try to harangue the American warships off their coast with drone swarms and, you know, anti-ship ballistic missiles, basically what the Iranians have been threatening to do.”
Chinese manufacturers have allegedly mastered the art of mass-producing these drones, producing units for as little as $10,000 each, according to the South China Morning Post.
The air defense systems guarding Florida may be either Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) batteries or MIM-104 Patriot missile interceptor systems, Weichert told the DCNF.
THAAD missiles cost $12.6 million each, according to the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, while Patriot interceptors cost $3.7 million, according to the Missile Defense Advocacy Alliance. The cost of these interceptors presents a significant asymmetry in the economics of Cuba’s potential offensive capabilities between the known air defense systems in the U.S. arsenal, although the U.S. defense budget proposal is now $1.5 trillion, according to the Department of War.
Although the proposed budget increase may help the military-industrial complex, the real problem is that it will take more than four years to manufacture some of these critical munitions that were recently expended in the 12-day war and the current Iran war, according to a Center for Strategic and International Studies report.
“As reflected in Gen. Donovan’s posture statement to Congress, SOUTHCOM monitors the influence of adversaries in the region; our forces remain prepared to respond and challenge threats to the homeland,” a SOUTHCOM spokesperson told the DCNF. “SOUTHCOM forces are agile, scalable, and ready to respond in all domains.”
Weichert also cautioned about Cuba’s intelligence service.
“The real threat that Cuba, in my view, has always posed has been in the intelligence domain,” Weichert told the DCNF. “They are probably the most proficient intelligence and espionage force in the western hemisphere.”
One example of this espionage is Ava Montes, a senior analyst with the Defense Intelligence Agency who spied on the U.S. government for over 10 years for Cuba, according to the FBI. She pleaded guilty in 2002 and was sentenced to 25 years in prison.
“The communist dictatorship in Havana provides an unrivaled platform for U.S. adversaries to threaten the homeland and U.S. interests across Latin America and the Caribbean,” Connor Pfeiffer, senior director of government relations at FDD Action, told the DCNF. “Cuban intelligence facilities operated with the Chinese sit within 400 miles of some of the most important American military installations, including the headquarters of SOUTHCOM, CENTCOM, and U.S. Special Operations Command. Russian warships also make port calls on the island in an attempt to provide outside support for this crumbling regime.”
“U.S. military action, as we saw in Caracas, is not likely in Cuba given that the regime stays in power through a corrupt ruling clique headed by the Castro family,” Pfeiffer told the DCNF.
As the U.S. continues the naval blockade of Cuba, Weichert warned that U.S. military assets are stretched thin and may not be able to manage a two-front war. He said that some individuals in the U.S. government would like to make a move on Cuba.
“I think that Marco Rubio would love nothing more than to initiate military action against Cuba,” Weichert told the DCNF.
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