Operation Southern Spear

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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 drug trafficking networks in the Western Hemisphere. The campaign was formally unveiled on 13 November 2025 by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth on orders from President Donald Trump. [1] [2] [3] [4]

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 assets to the Caribbean Sea in mid-August and, in September, began airstrikes on vessels the Trump administration alleges are controlled by narco-terrorists trafficking drugs to the US. [1] [2] [5] The United States Southern Command (USSOUTHCOM), whose area of responsibility covers Central and South America and the Caribbean, [2] created a joint task force in October around the headquarters of II Marine Expeditionary Force (II MEF) tasked with "crushing" the drug cartels operating in the region. [6] [7] Later referred to as the Joint Task Force Southern Spear, its operations are coordinated with the United States Fourth Fleet, the United States Navy component of USSOUTHCOM. [1] [3]

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. [8]

History

The United 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] [9] 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." [1] The Operation would use unmanned surface vessels supplied by Saildrone "to monitor illegal activity in the Caribbean and Pacific Ocean", according to Axios. [10] [11] Uncrewed boats for high-risk missions were being used to gather intelligence by June 2025. [12]

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", 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 at Naval Station Mayport in Florida, with operations to begin later in November. [1]

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". [13]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Delgado, Antonio María (14 November 2025). "U.S. launches Operation Southern Spear, unveiling new robotic fleet to target cartels". Miami Herald. Retrieved 16 November 2025.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Timotija, Filip (14 November 2025). "Hegseth's 'Southern Spear' operation to pummel 'narco-terrorists': What to know". The Hill . Retrieved 16 November 2025.
  3. 1 2 Timotija, Filip (16 November 2025). "US military kills 3 'narco-terrorists' in Eastern Pacific as USS Gerald Ford arrives in Caribbean". The Hill . Retrieved 16 November 2025.
  4. ↑ "Gerald R. Ford Carrier Strike Group Enters Caribbean Sea" (Press release). United States Southern Command. 16 November 2025. Retrieved 17 November 2025.
  5. ↑ Cancian, Mark F.; Park, Chris H. (10 November 2025). "Trump's Caribbean Campaign: The Data Behind Operation Southern Spear". Center for Strategic and International Studies.
  6. ↑ Timotija, Filip (10 October 2025). "Hegseth announces task force to 'crush' drug cartels in Caribbean Sea". The Hill . Retrieved 16 November 2025.
  7. ↑ "New Joint Task Force Established to Lead SOUTHCOM Counter-Narcotics Operations" (Press release). United States Southern Command. 10 October 2025. Retrieved 17 November 2025.
  8. ↑ Debusmann Jr, Bernd (16 November 2025). "What does Trump want with boat strike campaign?". BBC News. Retrieved 17 November 2025. But little information about the targets or what drug trafficking organisations they allegedly belonged to has been officially released by the Pentagon.
  9. ↑ "Operation Southern Spear: Latest Development in Operationalizing Robotic and Autonomous Systems" (Press release). United States Navy. 28 January 2025. Retrieved 16 November 2025.
  10. ↑ Demarest, Colin (5 February 2025). "U.S. Navy leaders agree: 'Embrace the robots'". Axios. Archived from the original on 10 February 2025. Retrieved 16 November 2025.
  11. ↑ "A Robotic Navy Sets Sail to Secure the Southern Border". Saildrone. 3 February 2025. Retrieved 16 November 2025.
  12. ↑ Reeves, Tabitha (5 August 2025). "Autonomous Craft Expanding Navy Use". National Defense. National Defense Industrial Association . Retrieved 16 November 2025.
  13. ↑ Vincent, Brandi (14 November 2025). "Hegseth announces Operation Southern Spear after 20th US strike against alleged 'narco-terrorists'". Defensescoop.com. Retrieved 17 November 2005.
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