JUST IN: Cuba Planning Drone Attacks Against America, Classified Intel Reveals

Classified U.S. intelligence shared with Axios claims Cuba has acquired more than 300 military drones and has recently discussed contingency plans for drone strikes targeting the U.S. base at Guantanamo Bay, American military vessels and possibly Key West, Florida, roughly 90 miles north of Havana.

The report lands as the Trump administration ramps up pressure on the island and casts Cuba as a growing national security concern, not just an economic and human rights flashpoint. A senior U.S. official told Axios the drone developments, combined with the alleged presence of Iranian military advisers in Havana, are fueling heightened alarm inside the administration.

“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.”

The intelligence claims come as CIA Director John Ratcliffe traveled to Cuba on Thursday and issued a blunt warning about hostilities, according to a CIA official who spoke to Axios. The same official said Ratcliffe also urged Cuban leaders to abandon what the official called a totalitarian system to end crushing 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,” that official said.

“The Western Hemisphere cannot be our adversaries’ playground.”

The Axios report also says the Justice Department plans to unseal an indictment Wednesday of Cuba’s de facto leader, Raúl Castro, tied to the 1996 downing of two planes flown by the Miami-based aid group Brothers to the Rescue. Additional sanctions could be announced this week, according to Axios.

According to U.S. officials cited by Axios, 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.

The same senior U.S. official said Cuban officials have sought additional drones and military equipment from Russia within the past month. The official also pointed to intelligence intercepts indicating Cuban intelligence officials are “trying to learn about how Iran has resisted us.”

The report notes that Russia and China operate high-tech espionage facilities in Cuba used to collect signals intelligence, or SIGINT. U.S. concerns about adversaries operating close to American shores were echoed publicly this week during congressional testimony.

“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 hearing Tuesday.

Hegseth also confirmed Castro’s involvement in ordering the Brothers to the Rescue shootdown, according to the Axios report.

Cuba’s embassy initially did not respond to an Axios request for comment, according to the report. It later issued a written statement on X that did not deny possessing attack drones.

“Like any country, Cuba has the right to defend itself against external aggression. It is called self-defense, and it is protected by International Law and the UN Charter,” the statement said.

“Those from the US who seek the submission and, in fact, the destruction of the Cuban nation through military aggression and war, do not waste a single moment fabricating pretexts, creating and spreading falsehoods, and distorting as extraordinary the logical preparation required to face a potential aggression.”

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The Axios report ties the growing focus on drones to Iran’s battlefield use of unmanned aircraft in recent months, saying Tehran’s drones have damaged American bases in the Middle East, helped choke off shipping through the Strait of Hormuz and threatened neighboring Persian Gulf states, alongside missile attacks.

U.S. officials also told Axios they estimate as many as 5,000 Cuban soldiers have fought for Russia in its invasion of Ukraine, and that some may have provided Cuban military leaders with lessons about drone warfare. The officials estimate Russia has paid Cuba’s government about $25,000 per soldier deployed.

“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.

Even as officials describe the intelligence as troubling, Axios reported that U.S. officials do not believe Cuba is an imminent threat or actively preparing to strike American targets. The concern, they say, is that Cuban military officials have been discussing drone warfare options if hostilities erupt as relations continue to deteriorate.

Officials also cautioned that Cuba does not have the ability to shut down the Straits of Florida the way Iran has disrupted the Strait of Hormuz. The senior U.S. official downplayed the prospect of Cuban air power, but stressed the proximity is the point.

“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.”

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