{"id":65979,"date":"2026-05-18T20:48:56","date_gmt":"2026-05-19T00:48:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/?p=65979"},"modified":"2026-05-18T20:49:03","modified_gmt":"2026-05-19T00:49:03","slug":"cuba-is-considering-using-hundreds-of-military-drones-to-strike-us-targets","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/2026\/05\/18\/cuba-is-considering-using-hundreds-of-military-drones-to-strike-us-targets\/","title":{"rendered":"Cuba Is Considering Using Hundreds of Military Drones To Strike US Targets"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Major intelligence reports that just surfaced on May 17, 2026, regarding Cuba’s drone program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to classified U.S. intelligence shared with Axios<\/em>, Cuban military officials have been discussing contingency plans to use attack drones against U.S. targets\u2014specifically the naval base at Guantanamo Bay, American military vessels, and potentially Key West, Florida<\/strong>\u2014should open hostilities break out between the two nations.<\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here is the breakdown of what is actually happening behind the headlines:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. The Drone Stockpile<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

U.S. intelligence indicates that Cuba has acquired more than 300 military drones<\/strong> of varying capabilities from Russia and Iran since 2023.<\/sup> This procurement has reportedly ramped up over the past month.<\/sup> Iranian military advisers have also been spotted in Havana, helping Cuban intelligence study how Iran has historically resisted U.S. pressure.<\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

2. Is an Attack Imminent?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

No.<\/strong> U.S. intelligence officials have explicitly stated they do not believe Cuba is an imminent threat<\/strong> or actively planning an unprovoked strike.<\/sup> Instead, the intercepted communications show that Cuban leadership is discussing these drone warfare tactics as a defensive strategy in the event that the U.S. launches a military offensive against the island.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3. The Tense Geopolitical Backdrop<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Relations between Washington and Havana are at their most volatile point in decades following the U.S. military operation that ousted Venezuelan leader Nicol\u00e1s Maduro in January.<\/sup> Since then, the Trump administration has placed a strict fuel blockade on Cuba, choking off its economy and causing near-total blackouts across the island.<\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

President Trump has publicly mused about “taking over” Cuba next, signaling to the Castro regime that military intervention is a real possibility.<\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

4. Cuba’s Reaction<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Following the leak of the drone report, Cuban President Miguel D\u00edaz-Canel issued a statement on X (formerly Twitter) asserting that Cuba “poses no threat” and has no aggressive intentions against the U.S. However, he fiercely defended Cuba’s “absolute and legitimate right to defend itself against a military onslaught,” warning that any U.S. attack would trigger a “bloodbath with incalculable consequences.”<\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

What Happens Next?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The disclosure of the drone threat appears to be part of a coordinated effort by the U.S. administration to ramp up pressure on Havana. On May 14, CIA Director John Ratcliffe made a rare, abrupt visit to Havana to deliver a warning that Cuba can no longer act as a platform for foreign adversaries like Russia and China (both of whom operate high-tech intelligence-gathering facilities on the island).<\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Furthermore, the U.S. Department of Justice is expected to unseal an indictment against 94-year-old Ra\u00fal Castro later this week for his role in the 1996 shootdown of the Brothers to the Rescue<\/em> planes, which will likely be paired with a harsh new wave of economic sanctions.<\/sup><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Major intelligence reports that just surfaced on May 17, 2026, regarding Cuba’s drone program. According to classified U.S. intelligence shared with Axios, Cuban military officials have been discussing contingency plans… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":65980,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_robots_follow":"","_seopress_robots_imageindex":"","_seopress_robots_snippet":"","_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"17","_seopress_robots_breadcrumbs":"","_seopress_robots_freeze_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_custom_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_canonical":"","_seopress_social_fb_title":"","_seopress_social_fb_desc":"","_seopress_social_fb_img":"","_seopress_social_fb_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_height":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_title":"","_seopress_social_twitter_desc":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_height":0,"_seopress_redirections_value":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled_regex":"","_seopress_redirections_logged_status":"","_seopress_redirections_param":"","_seopress_redirections_type":0,"_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","inline_featured_image":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"wpai_generated_summary":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"dois","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":true,"token":"eyJpbWciOiJodHRwczpcL1wvaTAud3AuY29tXC9sYWtlbGFuZGdhemV0dGUuaW5mb1wvbmV3c1wvd3AtY29udGVudFwvdXBsb2Fkc1wvMjAyNlwvMDVcL2Rvd25sb2FkLTQtNC53ZWJwP2ZpdD0yNTklMkMxOTQmc3NsPTEiLCJ0eHQiOiJDdWJhIElzIENvbnNpZGVyaW5nIFVzaW5nIEh1bmRyZWRzIG9mIE1pbGl0YXJ5IERyb25lcyBUbyBTdHJpa2UgVVMgVGFyZ2V0cyIsInRlbXBsYXRlIjoiZG9pcyIsImZvbnQiOiIiLCJibG9nX2lkIjoxNjMwNDA2NjF9.WHzTpgc_pGQikJvo05Am36iQqkpqVPjqlohECSGrBFEMQ"},"version":2,"media_source":"sig","attached_media":[{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/jetpack.com\/redirect\/?source=sigenerate&query=t%3DeyJpbWciOiJodHRwczpcL1wvbGFrZWxhbmRnYXpldHRlLmluZm9cL25ld3NcL3dwLWNvbnRlbnRcL3VwbG9hZHNcLzIwMjZcLzA1XC9kb3dubG9hZC00LTQud2VicCIsInR4dCI6IkN1YmEgSXMgQ29uc2lkZXJpbmcgVXNpbmcgSHVuZHJlZHMgb2YgTWlsaXRhcnkgRHJvbmVzIFRvIFN0cmlrZSBVUyBUYXJnZXRzIiwidGVtcGxhdGUiOiJkb2lzIiwiZm9udCI6IiIsImJsb2dfaWQiOjE2MzA0MDY2MX0.4zBJUqTiWwGGDTF5SfyWDQjZY3eGIRzJBtRpOsCj9gsMQ","type":"image\/jpeg"}]},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false},"categories":[17],"tags":[14651],"class_list":["post-65979","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-regional-and-world-news","tag-cuba-is-considering-using-hundreds-of-military-drones-to-strike-us-targets"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65979","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=65979"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65979\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":65981,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65979\/revisions\/65981"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/65980"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=65979"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=65979"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=65979"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}