A drone from the United States Navy, the MQ-4C Triton identified by the call sign BLKCAT6, was tracked this Tuesday making several flights over international waters off the northern coast of Cuba, according to public records from the ADS-B Exchange air traffic tracking platform.
The aircraft, with ICAO code AE7817 and registration 16-9806, was spotted at 26,550 feet (approximately 8,093 meters) and at 236 knots (437 km/h), heading east. At the time the data was recorded, the aircraft was already located off the northeast coast of Florida, not over Cuba.
The documented trajectory shows that the drone completed several flights in the maritime area between Havana and the Bahamas before heading back to Florida.
According to the analysis of the records, "the movement pattern is consistent with reconnaissance operations, although it does not, on its own, demonstrate that intelligence was being gathered on Cuban facilities."
So far, the official purpose of the mission has not been confirmed, nor whether the aircraft actually entered the 12 nautical miles of Cuban territorial waters, a distance that would determine the true scope of the operation.
The MQ-4C Triton is the naval variant of the RQ-4 Global Hawk, manufactured by Northrop Grumman and operated by the U.S. Navy for persistent maritime surveillance missions. It is equipped with a 360-degree X-band AESA radar and can remain airborne for up to 24 continuous hours at altitudes above 50,000 feet.
The altitude recorded this Tuesday—noticeably lower than its usual operational ceiling—could correspond to a transit phase or a mission profile different from previous operations.
This is not the first time that this same device has operated near Cuba. In April 2026, the BLKCAT6 completed a mission lasting over 12 hours near Havana, Santiago de Cuba, and Guantanamo, at an altitude of about 49,000 feet. In August of that same year, it was tracked again on a route that encompassed the Florida Straits, the Gulf of Mexico, the Yucatán Channel, and the southern part of the island.
The flight this Tuesday occurs just four days after the Cuban regime concluded the Moncada Strategic Exercise 2026, a nationwide military mobilization held from November 4 to 6 that included tanks, special troops, air defense drills, and urban combat exercises.
The chief of the General Staff of the Revolutionary Armed Forces, General Roberto Legrá Sotolongo, then declared that Cuba would defend the country “house by house, neighborhood by neighborhood”.
The flight is part of a sustained increase in U.S. aerial intelligence activity around Cuba. Since February 2026, at least 25 reconnaissance missions by aircraft have been documented in the vicinity of the island, accumulating over 150 flight hours, with platforms including the MQ-4C Triton, the RC-135 Rivet Joint, and the P-8A Poseidon.
In that same context of tension, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth declared in August 2026, from the USS Gridley destroyer, that "all options, including military ones, are on the table" regarding Cuba, while President Trump raised the possibility in October of bringing warships closer to the island's shores.
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