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Military of Cuba
Military manpower
Military age	17 years
Availability	males age 15-49: 3,134,622 females age 15-49: 3,022,063 (2004 est.)
Fit for military service	males age 15-49: 1,929,370 females age 15-49: 1,888,498 (2004 est.)
Reaching military age annually	males: 83,992 females: 91,901 (2004 est.)
Military expenditures
Dollar figure	$572.3 million (2003)
Percent of GDP	roughly 1.8% (2003)
Moscow, for decades the key military supporter and supplier of Cuba, cut off almost all military aid by 1993.

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 (MTT), and Youth Labor Army (EJT).

Under Fidel Castro, Cuba became a highly militarized communist society. From 1966 until the late 1980s, massive Soviet military assistance enabled Cuba to upgrade its military capabilities and project power abroad. 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 missile crisis. In 1994, Cuba's armed forces were estimated to have 235,000 active duty personnel.

Cuban military power has been sharply reduced by the loss of Soviet subsidies. Today, the Revolutionary Armed Forces number 49,000 regular troops.^[1] 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"^[2]. Cuba also adopted a "war of the people" strategy that highlights the defensive nature of its capabilities.

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 and 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.

The government has, however, maintained a large state security apparatus, under the Ministry of Interior (which also controls the Border Guard (TGF)), for the stated purpose of suppressing subversive activities within Cuba.

Contents 1 Army 1.1 Organization 1.2 Equipment 2 Air and Air Defense Force (DAAFAR) 3 Revolutionary Navy (Marina de Guerra Revolucionaria, MGR) 4 See also 5 References 6 Further reading 7 External links

In 1985, according to Jane's Military Review (Fourth Year of Issue), there were three major geographical commands, Western, Central, and Eastern. 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.^[3] 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.

Estimated 38,000 personnel^[4] Headquarters; 3 Regional Commands, 3 Army

• up to 5 armoured brigades
• 9 mechanized infantry brigade (each 3 mechanized infantry, and 1 armoured, 1 artillery, 1 Air Defense artillery regiment)
• 1 Airborne brigade
• 14 reserve brigade
• 1 frontier brigade
• 1 air defence artillery regiment
• 1 surface-to-surface missile brigade

Infantry weapons

• AK-47
• RPK
• PKM
• RPG-7

Light Tanks (50)

• PT-76

Medium Tanks (900)

• T-34
• T-54/55
• T-62

Main Battle Tanks (50)

• T-72

Reconnaissance Armoured Vehicles (100)

• BRDM-1
• BRDM-2

Infantry Fighting Vehicles (400)

• BMP-1 - 400

Armoured Personnel Carriers (700)

• BTR-152
• BTR-40
• BTR-50
• BTR-60

Towed Artillery (500)

• ZIS-3
• D-30
• M-46

Self-Propelled Artillery (40)

• 2S1
• 2S3 Akatsiya

Multi Rocket Launchers (175)

• BM-14
• BM-21
• P-15 Termit

Mortars (1000)

• M-41/43
• M-38/43

Anti-Tank Weapones

• AT-1
• AT-3
• D-44
• SU-100
• T-12

Anti-Aircraft Guns (400)

• ZU-23
• ZSU-23-4
• ZSU-57-2
• BTR-60P

SAM's

• SA-6 Gainful
• SA-7 Grail
• SA-8 Gecko
• SA-9 Gaskin
• SA-13 Gopher
• SA-14 Gremlin
• SA-16 Gimlet

Cuban Revolutionary Air Force
Active	since 1502
Country	Cuba
Insignia
Roundel
Aircraft flown
Attack	L-39, Mi-24
Fighter	MiG-21, MiG-23, MiG-29
Trainer	L-39
Transport	Mi-8, Mi-17, An-24

In 1990, Cuba's air force, with about 150 Soviet-supplied fighters, including advanced Mikoyan-Guryevich MiG-23 and Mikoyan MiG-29s, was probably 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^[5])of the 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-defence artillery to respond to attacking air forces'^[6]

By 2007 the IISS 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	cargo	An-24	20	4
Antonov An-26 Curl	Soviet Union	cargo	An-24	17	3
Yakovlev Yak-40 Codling	Soviet Union	VIP	Yak-40	8	3
Ilyushin Il-62	Soviet Union	VIP	Il-62	1	1
Il-96	Soviet Union	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

Almost all of the ships of the Navy have been decommissioned. 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.

In 1998, according to the same DIA report, the navy had no functioning submarines, around 12 surface vessels that are 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 3,000 strong by the IISS with six Osa-II and one Pauk-class fast attack craft.

• Cuban military ranks

1. ^ IISS Military Balance 2007, p.70
2. ^ Bryan Bender, 'DIA expresses cconcern over Cuban intelligence activity,' Jane's Defence Weekly, 13 May 1998, p.7
3. ^ Bryan Bender, 'DIA expresses concern over Cuban intelligence activity', Jane's Defence Weekly, 13 May 1998, p.7
4. ^ IISS Military Balance 2007, p.70
5. ^ http://www.cubapolidata.com/cafr/cafr_airforce.html
6. ^ Jane's Defence Weekly, 13 May 1998

• Piero Gleijeses: Kuba in Afrika 1975-1991. In: Bernd Greiner /Christian Th. Müller / Dierk Walter (Hrsg.): Heiße Kriege im Kalten Krieg. Hamburg, 2006, ISBN 3-936096-61-9, S. 469-510. (Review by H. Hoff, Review by I. Küpeli)

• (Spanish) Official site of the Revolutionary Armed Forces
• Foro Militar General (Cuban military forum)
• Cuban Air Force
• (Spanish)Secretos de Generales on Granma site
• Cuban Armed Forces Review

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