No flights into Cuban airspace, but an increasing level of flights around the island’s perimeter
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For years after the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962, there was a regular operational tempo of surveillance to keep track of what was going on in the Communist island.
By the late 1990s, the strategic interest in Cuba waned, and it became a backwater in the collection stack – even while the Cubans aggressively penetrated the U.S. Government with the likes of Ana Montes at Defense Intelligence Agency and Ambassador Manuel Rocha.
Surveillance flights around Cuba started on February 4, 2026. In March until April 16, resources were shifted to the Middle East, but then flights around Cuba resumed. The Wall Street Journal has an excellent article on the topic (behind its paywall).
Many of the flights have been with the large MQ-4C High Altitude Longe Endurance (HALE) drone. The Navy P-8A and the venerable Air Force RC-135V/W Rivet Joint have taken part. The RC-135 has been updated many times, including new engines, since 1964, but is still an aging platform. (Pictures below are not to scale).
The flights have been departing out of Northern Florida according to the WSJ.
With the indictment of Raul Castro (Fidel’s brother) and others for the murder of four Americans in 1996, it is possible that operational preparation of the environment is being conducted to bring justice to this infamous episode.
More to follow, continue to watch this story.
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