Sunday, May 26, 2013

Cuba




Cuba


Cuba
Capital: Havana



Historical


Spanish invasion and control of Cuba
Spanish-American War

Many U.S. owned businesses in Cuba before the revolution including casinos and sugar plantations,
The 1953-1959 revolution against the corrupt Batista regime in Cuba, led by Fidel Castro.

In 1959, the U.S. backed dictator of Cuba, Fulgencio Batista, flees the country. Fidel Castro and his small guerrilla army move into Havana and seize power.

1961 Bay of Pigs
In April of 1961, CIA trained Cuban exiles land at the so called Bay of Pigs in Cuba and attempt to retake the island nation from the communist Castro regime. The attempt to retake Cuba was a great failure, and made Fidel Castro even more popular.

1962 Cuban Missile Crisis
The U.S. and Soviet Union almost get into a nuclear war, after U.S. U-2 spy planes spot Soviet short range nuclear missiles in Cuba. The U.S. threatens the Soviet Union and Cuba. The Soviet Union decides to withdraw the nuclear missiles from Cuba.

Guantanamo Bay
The U.S. still controls Guantanamo Bay in Cuba. Uses to hold muslim prisoners from Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, etc. Before the U.S. used it to hold muslim prisoners, they used it to hold and “process” Haitian refugees being sent back to Haiti. In the 1980's and 1990's, the U.S. allowed hundreds of Cuban refugees to come to the United States via boats. At the same time they sent hundreds of Haitian refugees back to Haiti and used the Guantanamo Bay base to “process” them. AIDS and other diseases spread into Haiti at the same time.

In 1975 the racist white South African government, backed by Zaire, white mercenaries, the CIA, FNLA and UNITA guerrillas, invaded Angola. At the request of MPLA forces in Angola, Cuba sends military forces to beat back the invaders. The MPLA guerrillas had recently fought and kicked the racist white Portuguese forces out of Angola and were hard pressed against the overwhelming forces. The combined Cuban and MPLA forces stopped the advance of the invaders and turned them away. Some of the first military forces Cuba sent to Angola were Special Forces with anti-tank weapons used to halt or delay the advance of South African armored units.

Operation Northwoods- The code name of a CIA plan to commit acts of terror and sabotage against the U.S. and blame Cuba as a pretext to invade Cuba.

The Lourdes facility is jointly operated by Russian and Cuban intelligence. Intercepts enemy communications or so called Signals Intelligence (SIGINT).


2016- Long time leader and beloved hero of Cuba, Fidel Castro, passes at the age of 90.






(FAR)- Revolutionary Armed Forces
46,000 total personnel (2002)
85,000 total personnel (2011)?
Largest military in the Caribbean

North Korean made Hwasong 5 short range ballistic missiles?

Belorussian made Sterkh-BM unmanned aerial vehicles to be produced in Cuba?


Air Force
Defensa Anti-Aerea y Fuerza Aerea Revolucionaria (DAAFAR)

MiG-29 fighter aircraft (6)



MiG-23 fighter aircraft (40)

MiG-21 fighter aircraft (12)

L-39 trainer/light attack aircraft (8)

Zlin Z-32 trainer aircraft (20)
An-24 transport aircraft (4)
An-26 transport aircraft (3)
Mi-8 transport helicopters (20)
Mi-17 transport helicopters (20)
Mi-24 attack helicopters (20)


AA-11 Archer air-to-air missiles
AA-10 Alamo air-to-air missiles
AA-8 Aphid air-to-air missiles

Hardened shelters for most operational aircraft.

To purchase Sterkh-BM unmanned aerial vehicles from Belarus.

Navy
Marina de Guerra Revolucionaria (MGR)
3,000 personnel (2007 est.)

2 Frigates with Styx anti-ship missiles (decommissioned?)

Osa II class missile boats with anti-ship missiles

Patrol Boats

Mine Warfare vessels
Intelligence Collection ship

SSC-3 coastal fired anti-ship missiles


Cuban built Bandera VI mobile launchers for SS-N-2 (P-15 Termit) coastal batteries, most of which have been taken off of naval vessels.

SS-N-2 Styx (P-15 Termit) anti-ship missiles

Ultralite aircraft


Desembarco de Granma- A battalion sized naval infantry unit.



Destino Especial Naval
Navy Special Forces



Naval Militia


Army
Ejercito Revolucionario (ER)- Revolutionary Army

Miles of underground caves and tunnels that store and hide tanks, soldiers, weapons, equipment, communications, command, and medical facilities.


Operation Bastion- A series of military exercises in preparation for the defense of Cuba.

T-72 tanks (50?)
T-62M tanks (320)
T-54/T-55 tanks (112)

T-34/85 tanks. Most, if not all, were turned into self propelled howitzers with D-30 122mm howitzers. (300)
PT-76 light amphibious tanks (50)
BMP-1 Infantry Fighting Vehicles
BMD-1 Infantry Fighting Vehicles
BRDM-1 armored reconnaissance vehicles (50)
BRDM-2 armored reconnaissance vehicles (100)

BTR-40 Armored Personnel Carriers
BTR-50 Armored Personnel Carriers
BTR-60 Armored Personnel Carriers
BTR-152 Armored Personnel Carriers
BTR-60 chassis with T-55 turret

Fiero fast attack vehicles used by Special Forces


Truck mounted RBU-6000 cannibalized from a naval vessel.


Air Defense
Self propelled anti-aircraft guns using BTR-60 chassis with open ZSU-57-2 turret.

SA-2 surface-to-air missiles (Most mounted on T-55 tank chassis)



SA-3 surface-to-air missiles

SA-6 surface-to-air missiles
SA-8 surface-to-air missiles

SA-9 surface-to-air missiles
SA-13 surface-to-air missiles


SA-7 shoulder fired surface-to-air missiles
SA-14 shoulder fired surface-to-air missiles
SA-16 shoulder fired surface-to-air missiles



KS-19 anti-aircraft gun on a T-34 tank chassis

ZSU-57-2 self propelled twin 57mm anti-aircraft guns
M-53 Czechoslovakian made twin 30mm on a BTR-60P
ZSU-23-4 self propelled 23mm anti-aircraft guns



KS-19 towed 100mm anti-aircraft guns
KS-12 towed 85mm anti-aircraft guns
S-60 towed 57mm anti-aircraft guns
M-1939 towed 37mm anti-aircraft guns
ZU-23 towed 23mm anti-aircraft guns

ZPU-1 towed 14.5mm anti-aircraft guns



Artillery
FROG-7 (9K52 Luna) rockets
BM-21 122mm multiple rocket launchers

BM-14 140mm multiple rocket launchers

North Korean made Hwasong 5 missiles?

2S1 Gvozdika self propelled howitzers
2S3 Atatsiya self propelled howitzers
SU-100 self propelled guns.
Self propelled howitzers using D-30 mounted on a T-34 chassis
Self propelled howitzers using M-46 mounted on a T-55 chassis
Self propelled howitzers using D-30 mounted on a 6x6 wheeled truck.

Vehicle with howitzer mounted



M-46 130mm towed gun
M-30 122mm towed howitzer
D-30 122mm towed howitzer

BRDM-2 mortar carrier

120mm mortars
82mm mortars

T-12 towed 100mm anti-tank gun
D-44 towed 85mm anti-tank gun
AT-1 anti-tank guided missile
AT-3 anti-tank guided missile
9K111 Fagot anti-tank guided missile
RPG-7 anti-tank rocket launcher

RPG-2 anti-tank rocket launcher
SPG-9 recoilless guns

AGS-17 automatic grenade launcher
RGD-5 hand grenades

Mambi sniper/anti-material rifles. Cuban made.

PKM machine guns
RPK light machine guns
Alejandro 7.62x54 sniper rifles. Cuban made.
Alejandro sniper rifles with night vision scopes

Dragunov SVD sniper rifles
VSS Vintorez silenced sniper rifles
AS Val silenced assault rifles
AMD assault rifles
Vz 58 assault rifles
AK-47 assault rifles
AKM assault rifles. License produced 
AK-74 assault rifles
AK-74 assault rifles with scopes and silencers
AKSU-74
SKS carbines
PM 63 RAK sub-machine guns
Makorov PM pistols
TT-33 pistols
Cz 75 pistols
Stechkin automatic pistols
Flamethrowers
Cuban made red dot scopes. Called the Visor Luminico para Matar Agresores (Light Optic to Kill Aggressors) or “Vilma”

Unidentified Cuban made grenade launchers. Looks similar to a small M-72 LAW or RPG-18.


Airborne Brigade


Direccion General de Tropas Especiales (DGTE)- General Directorate of Special Troops.
Cuban army special forces.
Black Wasps
Heavily armed fast attack vehicles 






New berets for DGTE as of 2011?


Miliciano de Tropas Territoriales (MTT)- Territorial Militia Troops


Mambi anti-material rifles
RPG-7
RPG-2
Scoped AK-74 assault rifles

Ejercito Juvenil del Trabajo (EJT) Youth Labor Army


AK-74 assault rifles

Defense and Production Brigades
(Brigadas de Produccion y Defensa)

Ministry of the Interior (MININT)
Brigada Especial Nacional
Grupo Tactico Especial (GTE)- SWAT like group in the MININT.



Policia Nacional Revolucionaria (PNR)
Under the command of the Ministry of the Interior

Cuerpo de Prevencion



Cuban Intelligence
Direcion de Inteligencia (DI) or the Intelligence Directorate.- Formerly known as the Direcion General de Inteligencia (DGI). The DI is a department of the Cuban Ministry of the Interior (MININT). Many Cuban agents are believed to be active in the United States, especially in the state of Florida. The DI falls under the Ministry of the Interior.

Camp Matanzas
A training camp operated by the DI. Believed to be responsible for training many guerrillas from around the world.

Cuban spy Ana Montes worked for the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) for years before she was caught by U.S. authorities.

There is a signals intelligence gathering facility in Lourdes jointly operated by Cubans and Russians.

Believed to have a chemical weapons program


Cuban companies
Union de Industrias Militares (UIM)



FAR pictures








4 comments:

  1. Cuban military industries produce under licenses AKM rifles, Makarov pistols, grenade automatic launcher AGS-17, B-21 multiple rocket launcher, RPG-7, anti tank missile Maliutka, 120mm, 82 mm and 37 mm mortars. Produce all ammo for small arms and artillery sistems..They also produced wide variety of land and naval mines..

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. not to mention they use to have the most modern army in latin america at one time.
      by the way what the condition of the cuban army today

      Delete
  2. In mid 1990s Cuba received from North Korea several 170 mm canons M-1978 Koksan

    ReplyDelete
  3. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OTTEc6POeEE

    ReplyDelete