US Navy surveillance drone flies mission along Cuba's coast

Source: USA Today

Updated April 17, 2026, 4:25 p.m. ET


A U.S. military surveillance drone flew for several hours along the coast of Cuba in an uncommon sighting for the Caribbean island, according to flight-tracking sources.

The MQ-4C Triton, a U.S. Navy surveillance drone with call sign BLKCAT6, took off from a naval station in Jacksonville, Florida on April 16, flew along Cuba's southern coast, circled in a holding pattern near Santiago de Cuba, then circled in another holding pattern near Havana before returning to the United States, according to Flightradar24, an online global flight tracking service. The flight near Cuba's coast took more than six hours, the service said.

Similar drones have been previously tracked in combat zones around the world, from the Black Sea to the Persian Gulf, said Ian Petchenik, a spokesman for Flightradar24 told USA TODAY. But it's the first time he remembered tracking one so close to Cuba, he said. In response to a query about the drone flight, a U.S. Southern Command spokesperson said: "Due to Operational Security, we do not comment or speculate about ongoing or future operations."

The Navy recently confirmed an MQ-4C deployed in the war in Iran crashed on April 9.

Read more: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2026/04/17/us-navy-surveillance-drone-flight-along-cuba-coast/89659994007/