90 Miles From Florida: Cuba Has 300 Iranian and Russian Drones - and Has Discussed Striking Guantanamo

Classified US intelligence has revealed that Cuba has quietly stockpiled more than 300 military drones supplied by Russia and Iran and that Cuban military officials have held internal discussions about using them to strike American targets, including the naval base at Guantanamo Bay, US warships in the Caribbean, and the Florida resort city of Key West, just 90 miles away.

The explosive disclosure, first reported by Axios citing a senior Trump administration official, sent shockwaves through Washington and triggered an emergency visit by CIA Director John Ratcliffe to Havana last week.

The Arsenal

Cuba has acquired more than 300 military drones from Russia and Iran since 2023, storing them across a network of locations on the island. Cuban military officials have begun discussing plans to use them against the US naval base at Guantanamo Bay, American naval vessels, and possibly Key West, Florida.

"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," a senior US official told Axios. Ukrainska Pravda

The intelligence assessment notes that Cuba has been studying Iran's drone warfare doctrine, including lessons its forces absorbed from the Ukraine battlefield. Approximately 5,000 Cuban soldiers have fought alongside Russian forces in Ukraine, with Moscow reportedly paying Havana $25,000 per soldier. Those veterans have returned with firsthand knowledge of drone tactics now being applied 90 miles from American soil.

Cuba also hosts advanced signals intelligence facilities operated by Russia and China, designed to intercept US military communications.

The CIA's Ultimatum

Three days before the Axios report was published, CIA Director John Ratcliffe traveled to Havana on May 14 in a rare and secretive visit, meeting with Cuban intelligence chief Romero Curbelo and delivering an ultimatum on behalf of President Trump.

"Director Ratcliffe made clear that Cuba can no longer serve as a platform for adversaries to advance hostile agendas in our hemisphere," a CIA official said. Ratcliffe also urged the Cuban government to dismantle its totalitarian system as a condition for ending crippling US sanctions.

US officials have been unusually candid about the purpose of the leak itself: the senior official who shared the intelligence with Axios acknowledged the assessment "could become a pretext for US military action."

The Indictment

The drone disclosure lands alongside a separate legal bombshell. The US Justice Department is expected this week to unseal a historic criminal indictment against 94-year-old former Cuban leader Raúl Castro over his direct role in ordering the 1996 shootdown of two civilian aircraft belonging to the Miami-based humanitarian group Brothers to the Rescue, killing four American citizens.

Havana Pushes Back

Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez accused Washington of building "a fraudulent case to justify the ruthless economic war against the Cuban people and the eventual military aggression." Cuba has not denied possessing drones, instead invoking its right to national self-defense under international law.

Analysts note an important distinction in the intelligence: the drone architecture appears to be framed as a retaliatory contingency capability rather than evidence of an active Cuban first-strike doctrine, Cuban officials reportedly discussed potential strikes only in the context of a prior American military attack on Cuba.

That distinction may matter little in Washington. The Trump administration has designated Cuba a state sponsor of terrorism and, with the Ratcliffe visit, the Castro indictment, and now this intelligence disclosure arriving in the same week, appears to be building a case, publicly and deliberately, for decisive action.