Bejucal Antennas Activate—Targets Closer Than You Think

Just 90 miles off our shore, a powerful new listening post in Cuba now appears ready to vacuum up American military and civilian signals for a hostile foreign power.

Story Snapshot

Satellite imagery shows a massive new antenna array at Cuba’s Bejucal base now completed and likely operational.
Analysts say the site can track and locate U.S. radio and radar signals across Florida, the Gulf, and the southeast coast.
Multiple reports tie the upgraded facilities to China’s intelligence network, though direct public proof of control is still disputed.
The build-out revives Cold War-style threats near our border and pressures Washington to harden bases and communications at home.

What Satellite Images Reveal At Cuba’s Bejucal Base

Recent satellite imagery from independent analysts and the Center for Strategic and International Studies shows that a large circular antenna system at Bejucal, south of Havana, has now been fully built out and is very likely in operation.^[3] Over the last two years, engineers tore out an older linear antenna field and replaced it with a circularly disposed antenna array made up of thirty-two antennas in two rings, a design used for long‑range signals tracking and direction finding.^[3]

Experts explain that circularly disposed antenna arrays let operators intercept and pinpoint radio transmissions across a wide range of high‑frequency bands, the same spectrum used for military communications, over‑the‑horizon radar, and some aviation traffic.^[3] From Bejucal’s position in northwest Cuba, this new system can look deep into the southeastern United States, including Florida bases, Gulf shipping routes, and Caribbean air corridors.^[2] A related site at El Salao, nearer to Guantanamo Bay, is being built for similar work but appears to be moving more slowly.^[3]

Why Analysts Link The Site To China – And Where The Evidence Stops

Bejucal has long been known as Cuba’s largest active signals‑intelligence base, with roots that go back to Soviet nuclear deployments and later to radio and satellite monitoring.^[2] For decades, U.S. congressional testimony, unclassified reports, and media coverage have suggested that Chinese services gained access to the site to collect on American targets, and a major CSIS study said four Cuban facilities are “most likely” supporting Chinese intelligence efforts against the United States.^[16] A later CSIS update notes that U.S. officials have recently acknowledged three Chinese‑operated sites in Cuba, and Bejucal is likely one of them.^[3]

At the same time, the open record still has gaps. CSIS itself admits there is “no clear publicly available evidence” proving that China fully controls Bejucal, even as it stresses how closely the layout and upgrades match Chinese‑linked projects elsewhere.^[3] A detailed critique from researchers at the National Security Archive and journalists on the ground in Cuba argues that Bejucal and other sites appear to be Cuban military facilities and says there is “no evidence” of a Chinese base beyond rumors and anonymous officials.^[6]^[14] That clash means Americans are left with a clear view of the hardware, but not a settled picture of who is behind every dial and screen.

What This Means For U.S. Security, And How Washington Is Responding

Security experts across the spectrum agree on one point: whoever runs the Bejucal array, its location and design give it a front‑row seat on U.S. activity in our own backyard.^[1] Reporting drawing on CSIS analysis warns that the four identified Cuban sites can reach sensitive communications from American bases near Key West and Homestead, space launches from Cape Canaveral, and major commercial shipping lanes through the Caribbean.^[17] Analysts add that the real value may not be reading every encrypted message, but mapping how our systems work—radar patterns, aircraft routes, ship signatures, and response habits in a crisis.^[17]

90 miles off the U.S. coast #SIGINT large circular antenna array at Bejucal and a second site at El Salao for signals intelligence collection #Cuba https://t.co/BiWLZwuBf3 @USNorthernCmd @DeptofWar @StateDept #BadPanda 🐼 https://t.co/tXX2MDEJgB pic.twitter.com/uRqLjmvQM7

— Glenn Mallo (@Glenn_Mallo) June 20, 2026

These revelations collide with a wider pattern conservatives have watched for years: China pushing hard in our hemisphere while past leaders in Washington chased “global engagement” and climate deals instead of hard security. The Wall Street Journal reported as early as 2023 that U.S. intelligence believed Beijing and Havana had reached a secret agreement for an electronic eavesdropping facility in Cuba, financed by several billion dollars, to target communications across the southeastern United States.^[18] Now, with the Bejucal array complete, that warning looks less like theory and more like a live system pointed at our homes, our bases, and our economy.