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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.

Under Fidel Castro, Cuba became a highly militarized 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 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^[1])of the these planes are still in service spread out among the thirteen military airbases on the Island. In 1994, Cuba's armed forces were estimated to have 235,000 active duty personnel.
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.
Cuban military power has been sharply reduced by the loss of Soviet subsidies. Today, the Revolutionary Armed Forces number about 60,000 regular troops. The country's two paramilitary organizations, the Territorial Militia Troops and the Youth Labor Army, have a reduced training capability. 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, for the stated purpose of suppressing subversive activities within Cuba.

Contents

Military branches

References

Equipment

See also

External links

Military branches

★ Revolutionary Armed Forces (FAR) includes ground forces

★ Revolutionary Navy (Marina de Guerra Revolucionaria, or MGR)

★ Air and Air Defense Force (DAAFAR)

★ Territorial Troops Militia (MTT), and Youth Labor Army (EJT)

★ General Intelligence Directorate

★ The Border Guard (TGF) (controlled by the Interior Ministry)

References

1. http://www.cubapolidata.com/cafr/cafr_airforce.html

Equipment

'Army'

★ AK-47

★ T-54/55 tank

★ T-34 tank

★ T-62 tank

★ PT-76 amphibious tank

★ ZSU-57-2 anti-aircraft gun

★ ZSU-23-4 anti-aircraft gun
'Air Force'

★ MiG-21

★ MiG-23

★ MiG-29

★ MiG-27

★ Mil Mi-8

★ Mil Mi-24

See also

★ Cuban military ranks

External links

★ Foro Militar General (Cuban military forum)

★ Cuban Air Force

★ ''Secretos de Generales'' on Granma site

★ Cuban Armed Forces Review