Cuba's "Secret Weapon" Against Drones: Ox-Drawn Anti-Aircraft Guns

On Saturday, the Cuban regime unveiled a rather unconventional strategy to combat enemy drones: an anti-aircraft artillery piece pulled by a pair of oxen on a cart during military exercises in the mountainous region of Jibacoa, within the Municipality of Manicaragua, Villa Clara.

The images, released by the regime in observance of National Defense Day, also featured mules laden with military gear traversing mountain paths and militiamen wielding AKM rifles. The authorities, maintaining utmost seriousness, described this as an anti-aircraft defense drill against unmanned aerial vehicles.

The official video narration underscored the strategic gravity of the situation: "As part of the unique exploration system. Direct from the simple anti-aircraft defense ambush, the approach of the unmanned aerial vehicles."

These exercises were overseen by Army Corps General Joaquín Quintas Solá, Deputy Minister of the Revolutionary Armed Forces, alongside Brigade General Israel Cubertier Valdés, head of the Villa Clara Military Region, and Susely Morfa González, President of the Provincial Defense Council.

Amaury Rodríguez Linares, President of the Manicaragua Municipal Defense Council, took the opportunity to quote Raúl Castro's historic phrase: "Yes we could, yes we can, and we always will." It's hard to argue with his logic: if they fought with oxen in the 19th century, why change a winning formula?

Social media responded with the vigor the moment deserved. "I died with the ox cart; it's the 18th-century war they're aiming for," wrote Yasmani Enriquez, adding in another comment, "The most powerful military force in the world is terrified seeing these images, just with the mules alone." Danilo Fuentes-Viñoly was more technical: "Do any of those comrades know what a military-grade drone or a B-2 bomber is?" Others simply stated the obvious: "There was more technology in the Middle Ages."

This event is not an isolated incident but the latest in a series that began in January 2026. That was when the United States' Operation Absolute Resolution captured Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro, leaving 32 Cuban soldiers dead in Venezuela. In response, the regime declared 2026 as the "Year of Defense Preparation" and established National Defense Day as a weekly observance. Since then, Cubans have witnessed rusty helicopters in January, oxen blocking roads in February, and coal as "personnel attention" for the military in March.

The technological context makes the scene even more telling: according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, Cuba hasn't purchased foreign weaponry since 1991 and ranks 117th out of 145 countries in global military capacity, per the Global Firepower 2026 report. Its S-125 anti-aircraft missiles are over 60 years old. The fuel crisis paralyzing the country—with electrical shortfalls of up to 1,790 megawatts—explains, though doesn't justify, the use of animal traction as a real logistical method rather than an asymmetric warfare tactic.

All this unfolds just four days after Díaz-Canel warned in an interview with Newsweek that Cuba would resort to guerrilla warfare in the face of a potential military intervention by Washington. These statements garnered nearly 3,000 mocking comments in under 24 hours. Secretary of State Marco Rubio dismissed them with a single phrase: "I don't think much about what he has to say." A resident of the Jibacoa area, Ariagnelis Cruz, perhaps provided the most revealing insight of the day: "Thanks to the visit, we got a bit of electricity," she wrote, implying that the region's power supply was contingent on the generals' presence. Quite the technological strategic breakthrough.