Category — Military & Defense

Generals Cintra Frias and Morales Abad sign the official act authorizing the change of command. (Photo: Granma)

Cuban media reports Army Corps General Leopoldo “Polo” Cintra Frías has been designated First Vice-Minister of the Revolutionary Armed Forces. General Cintra Frías served as Chief of the Western Army since 1991 when he took again command after returning from his forth tour of Angola and is being replaced by Division General Lucio Morales Abad, who served as Chief of the Army General Staff. General Morales Abad, according to the report, has a four decade long service to the military in different levels of command in artillery and tank units.

Presiding over the change of command ceremony was Army General Raul Castro.

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by Ray Walser and Mackenzie Eaglen | The Heritage Foundation

Almost half a century after the Cuban missile crisis, the Russian navy is coming to the Americas. While the mood in Washington is far from panicked, neither is it mirthful. There is a sense of discomfort and dissatisfaction with the voyage of the Russian flotilla and concern about where U.S.-Russian and hemispheric relations are headed.

In the coming weeks, media attention will focus on the passage of the Russian squadron into Caribbean waters, where in November it will conduct joint exercises with the Venezuelan navy. Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez extols growing military ties with Russia as a means to escape from under the thumb of U.S. hegemony and to build a multi-polar world. Subsequently, one can count on Chávez to maximize the publicity value of the Russian fleet’s presence in American waters and to continue flaunting his anti-American agenda and growing connections with Russia. Incidentally, state and municipal elections will take place on November 23 in Venezuela. For the Russians, the naval maneuvers appear to be a form of payback for U.S. support for the democratic nation of Georgia and for the presence of U.S. warships in the Black Sea.

Showing the Russian Flag (Again)

On September 22, four surface warships departed from Russia’s Northern Fleet home base in Severomorsk for the 15,000-mile journey to the warm waters of the Caribbean. The fleet is led by the nuclear-powered guided missile battle cruiser Pyotr Velikiy (Peter the Great).When fully armed, it is a formidable warship able to carry at least 400 missiles and anti-submarine warfare weapons, including 20 P-700 Granit (SS-N-19 “Shipwreck,” according to NATO), which are heavy supersonic anti-ship cruise missiles with a maximum range of 300 nautical miles. The SS-N-19 can be armed with either a 750-kilogram conventional or a 500-kiloton nuclear warhead. The battle cruiser can carry three helicopters and has an endurance of 60 days and a maximum speed of 32 knots.

Sailing with the battle cruiser is a destroyer, the Admiral Chabanenko, whose main armament consists of eight supersonic anti-ship cruise missiles of the P-270 Moskit (SS-N-22 “Sunburn”) type with ranges of approximately 120 kilometers and capable of carrying either conventional or nuclear warheads. [Read more →]

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Via IMINT & Analysis:

SSC-3 STYX anti-ship cruise missile facility located northeast of Havana. (Image: Google Earth)

The image above depicts an SSC-3 STYX anti-ship cruise missile facility located northeast of Havana, Cuba. There are two SSC-3 TELs visible. The SSC-3 is a coastal defense anti-ship missile system with an effective range of approximately 80 kilometers. Identifying anti-ship missile batteries employing vehicle-borne systems such as the STYX can be difficult using overhead imagery. Note that the vehicle bears a resemblance to the TEL used with SAM systems such as the S-300P. Measuring approximately 42 feet in length, the SSC-3’s TEL can be confused with the S-300PS’s 5P85S/D TEL having similar dimensions. Both systems employ variations of the MAZ-543 chassis, accounting for their similar dimensions. In this case, the importance of having a good knowledge of the weapon systems employed by a given nation is illustrated very easily. Without the knowledge that no S-300PS (SA-10B GRUMBLE) systems have ever been sold to or deployed in Cuba, a less experienced analyst might misidentify the system as a SAM rather than an anti-ship missile system. Such a misidentification would paint a very different picture of Cuban air defense capabilities than is actually the case.

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According to a brief note posted by the Defense Ministry in Cuban state media, Army General Raul Castro has decided to postpone Bastion 2008 Strategic Military Exercises until 2009 as a result of Hurricanes Gustav and Ike.  The exercises were to be held in November.

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The September/October 2008 edition of Military Review (pdf) published by the US Army Combined Arms Center has an article on Chinese military influence in Latin America.  A section addresses Cuba’s military acquisition of Chinese arms and technology, as follows:

Norinco Type 89 Armored Personnel Carrier. (Photo: China North Industries Corp.)

Special case: Cuba. Cuba has increasingly relied on Chinese assistance for its military because of generous terms. China helped Cuba upgrade its air defense system by providing more advanced communications equipment, improving its integration and central control, and assisting with maintenance and spare parts. China has also helped the Cuban air force maintain its aging Soviet-era fleet and upgrade some of its MIG-21s. China’s Northern Industries supplied the Cuban military with APCs, transport vehicles, and logistics equipment. However, it’s unlikely Cuba will make any major arms purchases from the PRC or that China will be willing to supply them. Advanced systems that would significantly enhance Cuban power projection capabilities—such as missiles, J series fighter jets, more capable radar and command systems, and naval assets equipped with cruise missiles—are therefore unlikely to come from China.

Cuba is unlikely to acquire such systems for three reasons. First, its doctrine does not envisage any power projection capability. To do so would be futile because of the proximity and tremendous power of the United States. Despite ts anti-American rhetoric, Havana is well aware of the risks of provoking Washington when Cuba no longer enjoys super-power protection. Second, Cuba’s anomalous and stagnant economy cannot afford such systems even at Chinese prices. Third, various Cuban officers and others from across Latin America report that the Cuban military is not happy with the quality of Chinese weapons. (A Thai colonel who served over a decade as an armor officer operating Chinese and American tanks said, “Chinese equipment is fairly good in the first two to three years. After that, it gets all rusty. I would rather use a 15-year old American M-11 than a 4-year old Chinese APC.”)

For its part, China believes arming Cuba with advanced weapons systems endangers China’s relations with the United States. Challenging the U.S. from a country that neighbors the U.S. and arouses strong emotions in Washington might cost China more than any benefits it gained. Therefore, Beijing is cautious in dealing with Havana. Professor Guo Shuyong, an international relations expert at Shanghai Jiao Tong University, says, “We remember the Monroe Doctrine and respect U.S. influence in Latin America. China is not like the Soviet Union 50 years ago. There will be no Cuban missile crisis.”

During a trip to Latin America in 2004, President Hu Jintao of China spent only a short time in Cuba and while there, refrained from making any comments that gave the impression the PRC intended to forge an alliance with Fidel Castro. Since then, Chinese trade and investment has been rather insignificant when compared with its presence in other South American countries, such as Brazil and Argentina.

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ISN Security Watch has an article addressing Cuba’s international relations leverage and foreign investment:

When Russian daily Izvestia reported on 21 July that Russian Tu-160 and Tu-95MS bombers had landed in Cuba, it set off a sprint in Washington as analysts and military leaders struggled to understand the situation.

At first, it appeared that Moscow had made a very serious gesture. Russia’s perceived geopolitical maneuver in Cuba, many thought, was in response to the US’ plans for an anti-missile shield defense system in Poland and the Czech Republic.

By 24 July, after three days of media hype and speculation over Russia’s true intentions, Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Ilshat Baichurin, dismissed any intention for a strategic deployment in Cuba.

Two events quickly followed up this announcement. Russian Deputy Prime Minister Igor Sechin arrived in Cuba on 30 July for extended talks with Raul and Fidel Castro. A former KGB operative and known confidant of now-Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, Sechin was an active operative during the Cold War and enjoyed a deep relationship with the Castros.

Putin then followed up Sechin’s visit with a 5 August announcement that Russia ought to “restore [its] position in Cuba and other countries.”

Observers agree a military presence in Cuba is not in Moscow’s best interests; rather, closer economic ties would behoove both nations. Sechin’s recent visit underlines the latter observation and coaxes Washington into a more open posture toward Cuba, an island nation the next US presidential administration would likely prefer not to lose again to the Russians. [Read more →]

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