U.S. military forces forward deployed at least 10 MQ-9A Reaper drones, 11 CV-22B Ospreys, 10 MC-130J Commando IIs, and 36 fighter aircraft to Puerto Rico bases including Rafael Hernandez Airport here, as reported by X user @ianellisjones over the past hour ending at 1:15 a.m. UTC on Dec. 29, 2025. Personnel at Rafael Hernandez Airport began emplacing covers on fences to block spotters from viewing Special Operations Command movements, according to an X post by @SA_Defensa during the same period. @ianellisjones specified Rafael Hernandez Airport, known as BQN, as a special operations and drone hub, while other bases including RVR for strike assets, SJU for command, control, intelligence, surveillance, electronic warfare, and PSE for Navy and USMC port operations host the assets, citing @LatAmMilMVMTs. These deployments continue U.S. bolstering of airpower in the Caribbean, following U.S. Southern Command statements on Dec. 28 identifying Rafael Hernandez Airport as Special Operations headquarters under Operation Southern Spear targeting Caribbean terrorist networks.
