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 combatdrug trafficking networks in the Western Hemisphere. The campaign was formally unveiled on 13 November 2025 byPete Hegseth, USSecretary of Defense, on orders from PresidentDonald Trump.[1][2][3][4]
Amid concerns from theTrump administration around defending the US from drug trafficking, andheightened tensions between the US and Venezuela during thecrisis in Venezuela, the US begandeploying assets to the Caribbean Sea in mid-August, and, in September, began conductingairstrikes on vessels the Trump administration alleges are controlled bynarco-terrorists trafficking drugs to the US.[1][2][5] By late November, with theCartel of the Suns designated by the US as aForeign Terrorist Organization, a new phase of operations began.[6][7]
TheDepartment 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.[8]
TheUnited States Southern Command (USSOUTHCOM), whosearea of responsibility covers Central and South America and the Caribbean,[2] created ajoint task force in October around the headquarters ofII Marine Expeditionary Force (II MEF) tasked with "crushing" thedrug cartels operating in the region.[9][10] Later referred to as the Joint Task Force Southern Spear, its operations are coordinated with theUnited States Fourth Fleet, theUnited States Navy component of USSOUTHCOM.[1][3]
TheUnited States Navy announced an operation by the same name in January 2025, using the Navy's 4th Fleet, focused on integrating "robotic and autonomous systems with traditional naval forces".[1][11] According to theMiami 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."[1] The Operation would use unmanned surface vessels supplied bySaildrone "to monitor illegal activity in the Caribbean and Pacific Ocean", according to Axios.[12][13] Uncrewed boats for high-risk missions were being used to gather intelligence by June 2025.[14]
According toThe 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", Hegseth 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'."[2] The Joint Task Force headquarters are atNaval Station Mayport in Florida, with operations to begin later in November.[1]
The New York Times described the US Joint Chiefs of Staff,Dan Caine, as a "major architect" of the operation.[15]
A US official told a reporter in November 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".[16]
By late November, the US hadamassed the largest military presence in the region since theCuban Missile Crisis in October 1962.[7]
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.[6][7] On 24 November, theCartel of the Suns was officially designated aForeign Terrorist Organization by the United States.[7]
Several USB-52 Stratofortress long-range bombers flew fromMinot Air Force Base inNorth Dakota[17] to within miles of the coast of Venezuela on 20 November in what SOUTHCOM described as a "bomber attack demo".[7]
Caine made a pre-Thanksgiving visit to Puerto Rico "as the Trump administration weighs the possibility of a broader military campaign against Venezuela";[15][7] according toThe New York Times, he was "expected to consult with commanders" as sources said Trump approved covert CIA activity in Venezuela and authorized additional negotiations with Maduro, but has not authorized the use of land forces.[15]
Collaborative efforts between theDominican Republic and US anti-drug agencies have been conducted, recovering numerous packages of cocaine.[18][19]
Caine would travel to Trinidad and Tobago after the Puerto Rico visit to meet with Trinidad and Tobago Prime MinisterKamla Persad-Bissessar; theCaribbean 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".[20]
But little information about the targets or what drug trafficking organisations they allegedly belonged to has been officially released by the Pentagon.
