Country Profile: Cuba - American Memory - Library of Congress

Library of Congress – Federal Research Division Country Profile: Cuba, September 2006
involvement in the economy, particularly in agricultural food production, transport, and tourism
(through the military-linked Gaviota Tourism Group, S.A.).
Major Military Units: The full establishment of a mobilized Cuban infantry division is 5,900
members; a mechanized division, 8,200; and an armored division, 6,200. A Cuban infantry
regiment numbers 1,010 personnel, and each of its two battalions numbers 349 soldiers. Armored
regiments consist of 720 personnel; each of their three tank battalions has about 110 soldiers and
21 tanks; artillery regiments have about 975 personnel. In early 2006, the army had four or five
armored brigades, nine mechanized brigades, one airborne brigade, and one artillery group. In
addition, the army included between 12 and 14 reserve infantry brigades. It was deployed
regionally in the Western Army, Central Army, and Eastern Army. In addition, the Isla de la
Juventud Military Region was garrisoned by forces equivalent to an infantry brigade. The
Revolutionary Army Command included an airborne brigade and an artillery division. The
Western Army included two mixed security regiments: one consisted of four divisions (brigade
equivalents); the other, called the 2 nd Pinar del Río Army Corps, consisted of three infantry
divisions (brigades). The Central Army comprised three mixed security regiments, four infantry
divisions (brigades), and the 4 th Las Villas Army Corps, which consisted of three infantry
brigades. The Eastern Army included 10 divisions (brigades), the Guantánamo Frontier Guard
Brigade (comprising two infantry regiments), the 5 th Holguín Army Corps (comprising one
mechanized and four infantry divisions/brigades), and the 6 th Camagüey Army Corps (consisting
of one mechanized brigade and three infantry brigades).
Major military units of the rest of the armed forces also are divided into the western, central, and
eastern regions. The three main territorial divisions of the air force and their responsible brigades
are the Western Air Zone (the Bay Of Pigs Guard Brigade), the Central Air Zone (the Batalla de
Santa Clara Guard Brigade), and the Eastern Air Zone (the Cuartel Moncada Guard Brigade).
The nearly nonoperational navy, which is divided into the Western Naval District and the
Eastern Naval District, has naval bases in Cabañas, Nicaro, Cienfuegos, Havana, Santiago de
Cuba, and Banes.
Major Military Equipment: Although the army is well stocked with Russian equipment, much
of it is obsolete or aging, and there is a critical shortage of spare parts. Most of Cuba’s equipment
came from the former Soviet Union and its East European allies, primarily Czechoslovakia and
Poland. Under a 2000 accord, Russia is supposed to assist Cuba in modernizing its inventory. In
the meantime, China has become Cuba’s main supplier of arms.
Cuba reportedly has about 1,500 to 1,700 armored military vehicles in service. In 2005 the army
inventory included an estimated 900 main battle tanks, including 400 T–62s (200 in service) and
1,100 T–54/55s (500 in service). Other armored vehicles included 50 PT–76 amphibious light
tanks (30 in service), 100 BRDM–1/–2 reconnaissance vehicles (about 90 in service), 400 BMP–
1 armored infantry fighting vehicles (about 150 in service), and 700 BTR–40/–50/–60/–152
armored personnel carriers (300 in service). The army’s artillery included 37 self-propelled
howitzers, 500 towed pieces, and about 175 BM–14 and BM–21 multiple rocket launchers. In
addition, the army had 1,000 mortars.
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