Operation Southern Spear

Operation Southern Spear is a United States military and surveillance campaign using a hybrid fleet of vessels with robotics and autonomous systems to detect and combat alleged drug trafficking networks in the Western Hemisphere. The campaign was first announced on 28 January 2025, although it went largely unnoticed at the time.^[12] A large-scale US military buildup began in the Caribbean in August 2025, followed by the initiation of airstrikes on boats on 1 September. The operation's name was formally unveiled on 13 November 2025 by Pete Hegseth, US Secretary of Defense, on orders from President Donald Trump.^{[13][14][15][16]}

Amid concerns from the Trump administration around defending the US from drug trafficking, and heightened tensions between the US and Venezuela during the crisis in Venezuela, the US began deploying military forces to the Caribbean Sea in mid-August, and, in September, began conducting airstrikes on vessels the Trump administration alleges are controlled by narco-terrorists trafficking drugs to the US.^[13][14][17] By late November, with the Cartel of the Suns designated by the US as a Foreign Terrorist Organization and a Specially Designated Global Terrorist organization, a new phase of operations began.^[18][19] This operation saw the largest US military deployment in the Caribbean since the US operation in Haiti 30 years ago, including the deployment of the Ford Carrier Group.^[20][21][7]

The Department of Defense has not often provided information about what drug cartels have been involved in the vessels targeted for airstrikes, or publicly identified the alleged drug traffickers.^[22]

The United States Navy announced an operation by the same name in January 2025, using the Navy's Fourth Fleet, focused on integrating "robotic and autonomous systems with traditional naval forces".^[13][12] According to the Miami Herald, Foster Edwards, the 4th Fleet's Hybrid Fleet Director, "described Southern Spear as a significant step in the Navy's evolving Hybrid Fleet Campaign" that would "operationalize a heterogeneous mix of Robotic and Autonomous Systems to support the detection and monitoring of illicit trafficking while learning lessons for other theaters" and "help develop critical techniques and procedures for integrating RAS into the maritime environment."^[13] The Operation would use unmanned surface vessels supplied by Saildrone "to monitor illegal activity in the Caribbean and Pacific Ocean", according to Axios.^[23][24] Uncrewed boats for high-risk missions were being used to gather intelligence by June 2025.^[25]

The United States Southern Command (USSOUTHCOM), whose area of responsibility covers Central and South America and the Caribbean,^[14] created a joint task force in October 2025 around the headquarters of II Marine Expeditionary Force (II MEF) tasked with "crushing" the drug cartels operating in the region.^[26][27] Later referred to as the Joint Task Force Southern Spear, its operations are coordinated with the 4th Fleet, the US Navy's component of USSOUTHCOM.^[13][15]

According to The Hill, after the Navy's 4th Fleet Operation Southern Spear envisioned "deploying robotic surface vessels, small robotic interceptor boats and vertical take-off and landing robotic air vessels to the Southcom region", in November 2025, Hegseth formally unveiled the Joint Task Force Operation Southern Spear, "made up of ground, air and logistics troops, to 'synchronize and augment counter-narcotics efforts across the Western Hemisphere'."^[14] The Joint Task Force headquarters are at Naval Station Mayport in Florida, with operations to begin later in November.^[13].

By late November 2025, the US had amassed the largest military presence in the region since the Cuban Missile Crisis in October 1962.^[19] A US official told a reporter that Hegseth's 13 November unveiling was "a formal operation naming for what the Joint Task Force Southern Spear ... and Southcom have already been doing in theater".^[28]

The New York Times described the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, Dan Caine, as a "major architect" of the operation.^[3]

On 22 November, senior Trump administration officials told Reuters that the US was prepared to launch a new phase of operations against Venezuela. Officials said covert operations were likely to be among the first actions taken in the new phase.^[18][19] On 24 November, the Cartel of the Suns was officially designated a Foreign Terrorist Organization by the United States.^[19] Dan Caine visited Puerto Rico as the "Trump Administration weigh[ed] the possibility of a broader military campaign against Venezuela".^[3][19] According to The New York Times, he was "expected to consult with commanders"; sources said that Trump had approved covert CIA activity in Venezuela, and authorized additional negotiations with Maduro, but had not yet authorized the use of land forces.^[3]

Several US B-52 Stratofortress long-range bombers flew from Minot Air Force Base in North Dakota^[29] within several miles of the coast of Venezuela on 20 November in what SOUTHCOM described as a "bomber attack demo".^[19]

On 11 December 2025, the US seized an oil tanker off the Venezuelan coast.^[30] On 17 December, Trump ordered a blockade of sanctioned oil tankers heading to and from Venezuela,^[11] and on 20 December, the United States Coast Guard intercepted and boarded a second oil tanker.^[31][32] On 21 December, US officials confirmed that American forces had also interdicted a third sanctioned oil tanker operating off the Venezuelan coast.^[33]

Collaborative efforts between the Dominican Republic and US anti-drug agencies have been conducted, recovering numerous packages of cocaine.^[34][35] On 26 November, during a meeting with Hegseth, Dominican president Luis Abinader granted the US temporary authorization to use San Isidro Air Base and the Las Americas International Airport for its counter-narcotics operations.^[36][37]

Caine would travel to Trinidad and Tobago after the Puerto Rico visit to meet with Trinidad and Tobago Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar; the Caribbean National Weekly stated that the visit came "as the two nations deepen their security collaboration to strengthen regional stability and combat illicit trafficking and transnational criminal organizations".^[38] On December 15, 2025 the Ministry of Foreign and CARICOM Affairs announced it had granted approvals for United States military aircraft to transit Trinidad and Tobago's airports.^[39]

Analysts and experts, according to The New York Times, say that Maduro's traditional allies of Cuba, China, Iran and Russia are unlikely to lend significant support.^[1]

Venezuela's allies include:

• People's Republic of China^[1][40][41]

• Colombia^[42][43]

• Cuba^[1][44]

• Iran^[1]

• Russia^[1][45][40]

• United States invasion of Panama
• Operation Uphold Democracy
• US intervention in Somalia (2007–present)
• Operation Inherent Resolve
• March–May 2025 United States attacks in Yemen
• United States strikes on Iranian nuclear sites