In recent days, the RC-135V/W Rivet Joint reconnaissance plane and surveillance drones from the United States carried out intelligence flights close to the north coast of Cuba, without entering the island’s airspace, according to independent portals. CiberCuba e CubaNet, based on public tracking data.
According to the CiberCuba, on Wednesday (4), a United States Air Force RC-135V/W Rivet Joint flew parallel to the northern Cuban coast, from east to west, operating over international waters. The trajectory was recorded by the platform FlightRadar24 and began at around 6:33 pm, at an altitude of approximately 31,500 feet.
According to CubaNet, the aircraft kept its entire route outside Cuba’s sovereign airspace, moving parallel to the coast before turning north and returning to Florida.
O CiberCuba added that, still on Wednesday, two flights of P-8 Poseidon aircraft, specialized in maritime surveillance and anti-submarine warfare, were also detected, one to the west of Cuba in the morning and another to the east of the island in the afternoon.
According to the CiberCubathis Friday (6), two days after the RC-135V/W flight, a United States Navy MQ-4C Triton (Global Hawk) spy drone was tracked north of the Cuban archipelago, which, according to the portal, could indicate an expansion of the scope of aerial surveillance operations in the region. The aforementioned drone is capable of carrying out prolonged missions, lasting more than 24 hours, and operating at high altitudes.
According to military air traffic observers cited by CiberCubathese missions fall under intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance operations that are associated with the so-called Operation Southern Spear, aimed at monitoring transnational drug trafficking threats in the Caribbean.
