Cuban Revolutionary Armed Forces

Revolutionary Armed Forces
Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias
Service branches Army
Air and Air Defense Force
Revolutionary Navy
paramilitary units
Leadership
Commander-in-Chief Pres. Raúl Castro
Minister of the Revolutionary Armed Forces Corps Gen. Julio Casas Regueiro
Manpower
Active personnel 46,000 (2002 est.)
Reserve personnel 39,000 (2002 est.)
Expenditures
Percent of GDP 3.8% (2006)

The Cuban Revolutionary Armed Forces consist of ground forces, naval forces, air and air defence forces, and other paramilitary bodies including the Territorial Troops Militia (Milicias de Tropas Territoriales - MTT), Revolutionary Armed Forces (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias - FAR), and Youth Labor Army (Ejército Juvenil del Trabajo - EJT).

The armed forces has long been the most powerful institution in Cuba and high-ranking generals are believed to play crucial roles in all conceivable succession scenarios.[1] The military controls 60 percent of the economy through the management of hundreds of enterprises in key economic sectors.[2][3] The military is also Raúl Castro's base.[3] In numerous speeches, Raúl Castro has emphasized the military’s role as a people's partner.[4]

Contents

Overview

From 1966 until the late 1980s, massive Soviet Government military assistance enabled Cuba to upgrade its military capabilities and project power abroad. The first Cuban military mission in Africa was established in Ghana in 1961. Cuba's military forces appeared in Algeria, in 1963, when a distinctly military "medical brigade" came over from Havana to support a moribund regime.[5] Since the 1960s, Cuba sent military forces to African and Arab countries; Syria in 1973, Ethiopia in 1978, the Cuban intervention in Angola from 1975–1989, and Nicaragua and El Salvador during the 1980s.

The Soviet Union gave both military and financial aid to the Cubans. The tonnage of Soviet military deliveries to Cuba throughout most of the 1980s exceeded deliveries in any year since the military build-up during the 1962 Cuban missile crisis. In 1994, Cuba's armed forces were estimated to have 235,000 active duty personnel.

In 1989, the government instituted a purge of the armed forces and the Ministry of Interior, convicting Army Major General and Hero of The Republic of Cuba Arnaldo Ochoa, Ministry of Interior Colonel Antonio de la Guardia (Tony la Guardia), and Ministry of Interior Brigadier General Patricio de la Guardia on charges of corruption and drug trafficking. This judgment is known in Cuba as "Causa 1" (Cause 1). Ochoa and Antonio de la Guardia were executed. Following the executions, the Army was drastically downsized, the Ministry of Interior was moved under the informal control of Revolutionary Armed Forces chief General Raúl Castro (Fidel Castro's brother), and large numbers of army officers were moved into the Ministry of Interior.

Cuban military power has been sharply reduced by the loss of Soviet subsidies. Today, the Revolutionary Armed Forces number 49,000 regular troops.[6] The DIA reported in 1998 that the country's paramilitary organizations, the Territorial Militia Troops, the Youth Labor Army, and the Naval Militia had suffered considerable morale and training degradation over the previous seven years but still retained the potential to "make an enemy invasion costly."[7]. Cuba also adopted a "war of the people" strategy that highlights the defensive nature of its capabilities.

The Cuban military has held high-level talk with the Pakistan military. The Pakistani military stressed to Cuba that it has strong defence infrastructure both in defence production and in shape of military academies to provide the necessary help and cooperation to turn the Cuban military into a modern and effective "blitzkrieg" military.

Army

Guards at the Mausoleum of José Marti, Santiago de Cuba

In 1984, according to Jane's Military Review, there were three major geographical commands, Western, Central, and Eastern. The reasons for dividing the army in this manner are not clear but may be a scheme to minimize the possibility of insurrection in the military. There were a reported 130,000 all ranks, and each command was garrisoned by an Army comprising a single armoured division, a mechanised division, and a corps of three infantry divisions, though the Eastern Command had two corps totalling six divisions.

A U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency assessment in the first half of 1998 said that the Army's armour and artillery units were at low readiness levels due to 'severely reduced' training, generally incapable of mounting effective operations above the battalion level, and that equipment was mostly in storage and unavailable at short notice.[8] The same report said that Cuban special operations forces, comprising a battalion-sized airborne unit and a number of smaller units, continue to train but on a smaller scale than beforehand, and that while the lack of replacement parts for its existing equipment and the current severe shortage of fuel were increasingly affecting operational capabilities, Cuba remained able to offer considerable resistance to any regional power.[9]

Organisation in 1996

There is estimated to be 38,000 army personnel.[6] As of 1996, according to Jane's Information Group, the army is organized into three Territorial Military Commands with three Armies; one army for each command.[10].

Revolutionary Army Command:

Western Army (deployed in the capital and the provinces of Havana and Pinar del Rio)

2nd (Pinar del Rio) Army Corps:

Central Army (Provinces of Matanzas, Villa Clara, Cienfuegos and Sancti Spiritus)

4th (Las Villas) Army Corps:

Eastern Army (Provinces of Santiago de Cuba, Guantanamo, Granma, Holguin, Las Tunas, Camaguy and Ciego de Avila)

6th (Holguin) Army Corps:

6th (Camaguey) Army Corps:

Equipment

Infantry Weapons

Light Tanks (50)

Medium Tanks (300)

Main Battle Tanks (1,550)

Reconnaissance Armoured Vehicles (100)

Infantry Fighting Vehicles (400)

Armoured Personnel Carriers (700)

Towed Artillery (500)

Self-Propelled Artillery (40)

Multi Rocket Launchers (175)

Mortars (1000)

Anti-Tank Weapons

Anti-Aircraft Guns (400)

Ballistic missiles

SAMs

Self-Propelled SAM

Air and Air Defense Force (DAAFAR)

Cuban Air Force
Active
Country  Cuba
Insignia
Roundel CU AF Insignia1961.svg
Former roundels Roundel of the Cuban Air Force 1959-1962.svg

Roundel of the Cuban Air Force 1955-1959.svg
Aircraft flown
Attack L-39, Mi-24
Fighter MiG-21, MiG-23, MiG-29
Trainer L-39
Transport Mi-8, Mi-17, An-24
Cuban MiG-29UB
Cuban MiG-21 over Florida, circa 1970

The Cuban Revolutionary Air and Air Defense Force (Spanish: Defensa Anti-Aerea Y Fuerza Aerea Revolucionaria) commonly abbreviated to DAAFAR in both Spanish and English, is the air force of Cuba.

Former aircraft include: MiG-15, MiG-17, MiG-19, North American B-25 Mitchell, North American P-51 Mustang, and the Hawker Sea Fury

In the 1980s, Cuba with the help of the Soviet Union was able to project power abroad, using its air force, especially in Africa. During that time Cuba sent jet fighters and transports to fight in countries such as Angola (against UNITA / South Africa) and Ethiopia (against Somalia)

In 1990, Cuba's Air Force was the best equipped in Latin America. In all, the modern Cuban Air Force imported approximately 230 fixed wing aircraft. Although there is no exact figure available, Western analysts estimate that at least 130 (with only 25 operational[15]) of these planes are still in service spread out among the thirteen military airbases on the island.

In 1998, according to the same DIA report mentioned above, the air force had 'fewer than 24 operational MIG fighters; pilot training barely adequate to maintain proficiency; a declining number of fighter sorties, surface to air missiles and air-defense artillery to respond to attacking air forces[16].

By 2007 the International Institute for Strategic Studies assessed the force as 8,000 strong with 31 combat capable aircraft and a further 179 stored. The 31 combat capable aircraft were listed as 3 MiG-29s, 24 MiG-23s, and 4 MiG-21s. There were also assessed to be 12 operational transport aircraft plus trainers and helicopters.

Aircraft Origin Type Version Total Del'd Total Now
Combat Aircraft
Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21 Fishbed  Soviet Union fighter
trainer		 MiG-21MF
MiG-21UM		 60
10		 4
4
Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-23 Flogger  Soviet Union fighter
multirole fighter
trainer		 MiG-23MF/MS
MiG-23ML
MiG-23UB		 21
21
5		 6
10
2
Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-29 Fulcrum  Soviet Union fighter
multirole fighter
trainer		 MiG-29B
MiG-29UB		 14
2		 2
1
Mil Mi-8 Hip  Soviet Union transport/attack helicopter Mi-8T
Mi-8TKV		 20
20		 4
2
Mil Mi-17 Hip-H  Soviet Union transport/attack helicopter Mi-17 16 8
Mil Mi-24 Hind  Soviet Union attack Mi-24D 20 4
Antonov An-24 Coke  Soviet Union /  Ukraine cargo An-24 20 4
Antonov An-26 Curl  Soviet Union cargo An-26 17 3
Yakovlev Yak-40 Codling  Soviet Union VIP Yak-40 8 3
Ilyushin Il-62  Soviet Union VIP Il-62 1 1
Ilyushin Il-96  Russia VIP Il-96 2 2
Aero L-39 Albatros  Czechoslovakia trainer/attack L-39C 30 7
Zlin Z-326  Czechoslovakia trainer Z-326T 60 20

Revolutionary Navy (Marina de Guerra Revolucionaria, MGR)

In 1998, according to a CIA report, the navy had no functioning submarines, around 12 surface vessels that were combat ready, a 'weak' anti-surface warfare capability, primarily SS-N-2 Styx SSM equipped fast attack boats, and an 'extremely weak' anti-submarine warfare capability.

By 2007 the Navy was assessed as being 3,000 strong (including up to 550+ Navy Infantry) by the IISS with six Osa-II and one Pauk-class fast attack craft.

Almost all of the ships of the Navy have been decommissioned and the three Koni class frigates were either expended as targets or sunk to build reefs. Cuba has constructed rolling platforms with Soviet P-15 Termit missile batteries taken from its warships and placed them near beaches where hostile amphibious assaults may occur. Most patrol boats are non-operational due to lack of fuel and spares.

The Navy also includes a small marine battalion called the Desembarco de Granma. It once numbered 550 men though its present size is not known.

There are reports of new naval projects under the Raul Castro government, including the building of a class of 4 enlarged Sang-O submarines with the help of North Koreans, with reports that at least one unit having been built. There is also a single picture of a small black native submarine in Havana harbour, it is rumored to be called Delfin and to be armed with two torpedoes.

The Cuban Navy are also rebuilding one, maybe two large ex-Spanish fishing boats. One, the Rio Damuji n° 390, has been seen with guns and Stynx missiles on the deck. These vessels are larger than the Koni class, and it is rumored that they can be used in the amphibious role or as frigates.

Air and Naval Air Bases

List of active bases:

Inactive

Fleet

Future

Current

The border guards have: 2 Stenka patrol boats and 18 Zhuk patrol craft

Historic

See also

References

  1. ↑ "The Cuban military and transition dynamics". http://ctp.iccas.miami.edu/Research_Studies/BLatell.pdf. 
  2. ↑ "Challenges to a Post-Castro Cuba". Harvard International Review. http://ctp.iccas.miami.edu/website_documents/Challenges.pdf. 
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Carl Gershman and Orlando Gutierrez. "Can Cuba Change?". Journal of Democracy January 2009, Volume 20, Number 1. http://www.journalofdemocracy.org/articles/gratis/Gutierrez-20-1.pdf. 
  4. ↑ Claudia Zilla. "The Outlook for Cuba and What International Actors Should Avoid". http://www.icdcprague.org/download/speeches/Maria_Werlau_ENG.pdf. 
  5. ↑ John Williams, Cuba: Havana's Military Machine, The Atlantic, August 1988
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 IISS Military Balance 2007, p.70
  7. ↑ Bryan Bender, 'DIA expresses cconcern over Cuban intelligence activity,' Jane's Defence Weekly, 13 May 1998, p.7
  8. ↑ Bryan Bender, 'DIA expresses concern over Cuban intelligence activity', Jane's Defence Weekly, 13 May 1998, p.7
  9. ↑ "
  10. ↑ http://web.archive.org/web/20080112102807/cubapolidata.com/cafr/cafr_military_regions.html
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 http://topgun.rin.ru/cgi-bin/texts.pl?category=state&mode=show&unit=297&lng=eng
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 "Cuban Tanks"
  13. ↑ * Użycki, D. , Begier, T. , Sobala, S. Współczesne Gąsiennicowe Wozy Bojowe. Wydawnictwo Lampart. ISBN 1-892848-01-5
  14. ↑ FAS.org
  15. ↑ Cuban Armed Forces Review: Air Force
  16. ↑ Jane's Defence Weekly, 13 May 1998

Further reading

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