Cuba’s communist leaders are facing some tough times. The Cuban people are getting good and tired of no electricity, no decent food, no garbage pickup, and the prospect of a jail term if they complain about any of that, and yet the people are taking to the streets anyway. This has to be making the remnants of the old Castro regime nervous.
Also making them nervous is President Trump’s removal by force of a key Cuban ally, Venezuelan strongman dictator Nicolás Maduro, and the subsequent shutting off of the Venezuelan oil that was helping keep Cuba’s energy economy afloat.
Could Cuba’s El Presidente Miguel Díaz-Canel and his communist cohorts be thinking that they’d rather go down fighting? There are now reports that Cuba has acquired as many as 300 military attack drones, and that should be causing some foreheads to sweat in Florida as well as in Washington.
A new report indicates that the Caribbean state of Cuba has acquired more than 300 military drones after tensions between the country and the United States have continued to escalate over past months, according to Axios.
Axios, mind you, doesn’t name a source for the claim. But the report is spreading around the internet, with some details:
According to Axios, citing classified intelligence products shared with the news outlet, Cuba has acquired 300 drones from Russia and Iran since 2023 and has concept operations (CONOP) on the books where they would be used to target U.S. installations and vessels at Key West and… pic.twitter.com/LbSLcyCpxe
— OSINTdefender (@sentdefender) May 17, 2026
The full post:
According to Axios, citing classified intelligence products shared with the news outlet, Cuba has acquired 300 drones from Russia and Iran since 2023 and has concept operations (CONOP) on the books where they would be used to target U.S. installations and vessels at Key West and Guantanamo Bay.
Per the report “officials don’t believe Cuba is an imminent threat, or actively planning to attack American interests. But U.S intelligence indicates the island’s military officials have been discussing drone warfare plans in case hostilities erupt as relations with the U.S. continue to deteriorate.”
Before we get too concerned about the Cuban military officials talking about plans, that’s what every country’s top military leaders do: Develop plans, and plans for when the plans don’t work, and plans for when the plans that replaced the plans that didn’t work don’t work. We do it here; somewhere in the Pentagon, there is probably a folder with a continually updated plan to invade Canada, should that become necessary. The thing that makes the American military difficult to face in battle is that, historically, at the operational level, we’ve been quick to chuck those plans and wing it.
Cuba, though, not only has plans, but they may well have a last-ditch plan to go down fighting. The Díaz-Canel regime may see that as a better option than facing an angry mob.
Read More: What Was the CIA Director Doing in Cuba?
Cuba Hitting Critical Mass As Fuel Runs Out, Protesters Are in the Streets
The (anonymous) report credits these drones with a range of over 300 miles. That would allow Cuba to hit the Keys, the Miami area, Fort Lauderdale, West Palm Beach, and possibly Tampa and Orlando. Note that even with 300 drones, these would be purely provocative terror attacks, not capable of damaging American military bases in the region to any extent; this would be a suicidal move by Cuba, as the Trump administration’s response would be, shall we say, vigorous.
If Cuba’s remaining communists do decide to go down with their boots on, it’s far more likely that they’ll do it facing Marines on the beaches rather than being converted into flying spare parts by American Air Force and Navy aviators after a suicidal drone attack on American civilian targets.
Editor’s Note: Thanks to President Trump and War Secretary Pete Hegseth’s leadership, the warrior ethos is coming back to America’s military.
Help us report on Trump and Hegseth’s successes as they make our military great again. Join RedState VIP and use promo code FIGHT to receive 60% off your membership.
