Illustrative image. (U.S. Navy)
A United States Navy MQ-4C Triton high-altitude surveillance drone on April 16 flew for over 12 hours off the coast of Cuba.
The drone, using the callsign BLKCAT6, made multiple passes near key areas, including the capital, Havana, and the region around Guantanamo Bay. It maintained an altitude of about 49,000 feet throughout the flight, according to aerial tracking data.
The highly-unusual surveillance mission ended with the drone returning to Naval Air Station Jacksonville in the state of Florida.
The Triton was developed to provide real-time intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance missions over vast ocean and coastal regions, continuous maritime surveillance, conduct search and rescue missions, and to complement the Boeing P-8 Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft. It has a service ceiling of 56,000 feet, and an endurance of up to 30 hours.
Click to see full-size image. (Flightradar24/X)
The mission came just a few days after President Donald Trump warned that the U.S. “may stop by Cuba” after it is done with his war on Iran.
“Cuba is a failing nation, and we’re going to do this, and we may stop by Cuba after we’re finished with this,” Trump told reporters at the White House on April 13, referring to the ongoing war against Iran.
“Cuba is a nation that was … horribly run for many years,” he continued.
“We have a lot of great Cuban Americans, all of whom just about voted for me, and they were treated very badly. In many cases, family members have been killed. They’ve been beaten up and mugged and terrible things happened in Cuba,” the American president added.
On April 15, USA Today reported that military planning for a possible U.S. operation in Cuba is quietly ramping up, in case Trump gives an order to intervene there.
Tensions between the two countries have been on the rise since Trump ordered a special operation to capture Nicolas Maduro, the long-term leader of Cuban ally Venezuela, earlier this year. More than 30 Cuban troops who were guarding Maduro’s residency in Caracas were killed in the operation.
Right after, Trump vowed to starve Cuba of oil, amid one of the worst energy crises in the history of the communist-ruled nation.
Russia has since shipped oil to Cuba. A floating power ship operated by the Turkish company Karpowership also returned to the nation.
Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel said on April 16 stressed again his nation will “be ready” for a possible attack from the U.S.
With Cuba’s crisis deepening as a result of a U.S. energy blockade, Díaz-Canel said that he does not want American military aggression to come to the nation. He said that the country will be prepared to fight back if it happens.
“The moment is extremely challenging and calls upon us once again, as on April 16, 1961, to be ready to confront serious threats, including military aggression. We do not want it, but it is our duty to prepare to avoid it and, if it becomes inevitable, to defeat it,” Díaz-Canel said at a rally commemorating the 65th anniversary of a historic speech by the late leader Fidel Castro during a crisis with the.
Taking into account everything that went down in Venezuela then in Iran, the Trump administration is most likely heading towards an intervention in Cuba.
Nevertheless, unlike the two previous interventions, a U.S. military operation in the island nation, whether limited or large, could come faster, without much preparations to be noticed by observers, due to the geographic proximity of the two countries.
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cubans better prepare for another trump invasion
the jews in florida want to steal cuba from them and turn it into another narco s ex trafficing hub for the epstein class jewish elite.
it will require a che guevara mindset to survive and remain free from occupation for the cuban people.
meanwhile russia has not done enough to assist cuba for many years. as they neglected serbia and armenia. and how they let aliyev stay in power which shows us how far the jews own russia.