Former Soviet Union (FSU) Yevgenya Inshore Mine Sweeper

Cuba's Revolutionary Armed Forces (FAR)¹

(2003-2004)

NAVY e3,000
(includes 550+ Navy Infantry)

BASES: Cabanas (HQ Western Command), Holguin (HQ Eastern Command)
Cienfuegos, Havana, Mariel, Nicaro, Punta Movida

PATROL AND COASTAL COMBATANTS 5

PATROL,COASTAL 1
1 Former Soviet Union (FSU) Pauk II Fast Patrol Craft, Coastal with 1 x 76mm gun, 4 Anti-Submarine Torpedo Tube, 2 Anti-Submarine Weapon Rocket Launcher

MISSILE CRAFT 4 Former Soviet Union (FSU) Osa II PFM

MINE WARFARE 6

MINE COUNTERMEASURES 6
2 Former Soviet Union (FSU) Sonya Mine Sweeper Coastal, 4 Former Soviet Union (FSU)Yevgenya Mine Sweeper Inshore

SUPPORT AND MISCELLANEOUS 1
1 Intelligence Collection Vessel

NAVAL INFANTRY (550+)
2 amphibious assault battalion
COASTAL DEFENSE
ARTILLERY 122mm: M-1931/37; 130mm: M-46; 152mm: M-1937
Surface-to-Surface Missile 2 SS-C 3 systems, some mobile Bandera IV (reported)

 

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(1998-1999)

NAVY e5,000
(includes 550+ Navy Infantry, e3,000 conscripts), 4 operational flotillas
NAVAL DISTRICTS: Western Headquarters - Cabanas, Eastern Headquarters - Holguin
BASES: Cienfuegos, Cabanas, Havana, Mariel, Punta Movida, Nicaro

SUBMARINES 1
1 Soviet Foxtrot with 533mm and 406mm Torpedo Tube (non-operational)

FRIGATES 2
2 Soviet Koni with 2 Anti-Submarine Weapon Rocket Launcher (non-operational)

PATROL AND COASTAL COMBATANTS 5
MISSILE CRAFT 4 Soviet Osa I/II with 4 SS-N-2 Styx Surface-to-Surface Missile+
PATROL COASTAL 1
1 Soviet Pauk II Fast Patrol Craft, Coastal with 2 Anti-Submarine Weapon Rocket Launcher, 4 Anti-Submarine Torpedo Tube

MINE COUNTERMEASURES 6
2 Soviet Sonya Mine Sweeper Coastal, 4 Soviet Yevgenya Mine Sweeper Inshore

SUPPORT AND MISCELLANEOUS 2
1 Intelligence Collection Vessel, 1 survey

NAVAL INFANTRY (550+) 2 amphibious assault battalion

COASTAL DEFENSE
ARTILLERY 122mm: M-1931/37; 130mm: M-46; 152mm: M-1937
Surface-to-Surface Missile 2 SS-C 3 systems, some mobile Bandera IV (reported)

 

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(1997-1998)

SUBMARINES 2

FRIGATES 1

PATROL AND COASTAL COMBATANTS 15

AMPHIBIOUS 1
1 Soviet Polnocny LSM, capacity 180 tps, 6tk (non-operational)

 

Notes

1. International Institute  for Strategic Studies (IISS). 2003. The Military Balance, 2003-2004.  London: IISS.; International Institute  for Strategic Studies (IISS). 1999. The Military Balance, 1999-2000.  London: IISS. pp. 236-237; International Institute  for Strategic Studies (IISS). 1998. The Military Balance, 1998-99.  London: IISS. pp. 219-220; International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS). 1997. The Military Balance, 1997-98.  London: IISS. pp. 214-215. 

 

Intel

1. According to Fernando Remirez de Estenoz, Cuban Representative to the U.S., in a US-Cuba Relations conference hosted by the Inter-American Dialogue and the Brookings Institution, "Cuba's submarine base is being converted into a tourist facility". Tuesday, 31 March 1998.C-SPAN.

2. In a July 12 article in El Nuevo Herald, Cuba is dismantling its naval flotilla due to a lack of funds for maintenance and is utilizing missiles and other equipment to re-inforce its coastal defense based on a Pentagon report obtained by The Washington Times.

The Cuban navy ordered the strip down of its last two frigates because it lacked operational capacity and would convert them into scrap in its Cienfuegos naval base. Cuba has also decommissioned numerous frigates, its only submarine hunter, three submarines, and more than a dozen patrol boats that are oxidizing under the Caribbean sun.

The report prepared by the Defense Intelligence Agency, has determined that Cuba has constructed rolling platforms with Russian SS-N-2 Styx missile batteries taken from its warships and placing them near beaches where hostile amphibious assaults may occur. And some of these beaches neighbor U.S. Guantanamo Naval Base, making it easy to hit ships entering and leaving the base. These anti-ship missiles have sufficient areal coverage throughout coastal Cuba.

An unidentified Pentagon official told The Washington Times that what has occurred in Cuba's dismantling was expected and that it will also happen to other equipment including its fleet of MiGs because there is a lack of funds to operate and maintain them.

The report also states that Cuba paid Russia  more than $10 million dollars for equipment and spare parts for tractors,  agricultural machinery, and trains that were received last spring.

See El Nuevo Herald.Marina cubana desmantela su flota de guerra.12 July 1997.