Cuban Revolutionary Army

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Revolutionary Army
Ejercito Revolucionario
Founded	1868; 154 years ago (1868) 1959; 63 years ago (1959) (current form)
Country	Cuba
Role	Land warfare
Part of	Revolutionary Armed Forces
Garrison/HQ	Havana, Cuba
Engagements	Escambray rebellion Bay of Pigs Invasion Sand War Guinea-Bissau War of Independence War of Attrition Yemenite War of 1972 Yom Kippur War Angolan Civil War Ogaden War United States invasion of Grenada

The Cuban Revolutionary Army (Spanish: Ejercito Revolucionario) serve as the ground forces of Cuba. Formed in 1868 during the Ten Years' War, it was originally known as the Constitutional Cuban Army. Following the Cuban Revolution, the military was reconstituted as the national army of Cuba by Fidel Castro in 1959. The army is a part of the Cuban Revolutionary Armed Forces which was founded around that time.

History[]

The Constitutional Cuban Army in its original form was first established in 1868 by Cuban revolutionaries during the Ten Years' War. It maintained neutrality during World War I and was involved in the Battle of the Caribbean during World War II when it was part of the Allies supported by the United States. After the Cuban Revolution had overthrown Fulgencio Batista's government, the Cuban Rebel Army under Fidel Castro's leadership was reorganized into the current armed forces of Cuba.

In 1984, according to Jane's Military Review, there were three major geographical commands, Western, Central, and Eastern.^[1] There were a reported 130,000 all ranks, and each command was garrisoned by an army comprising a single armoured division, a mechanised division, and a corps of three infantry divisions, though the Eastern Command had two corps totalling six divisions. There was also an independent military region, with a single infantry division, which garrisoned the Isle of Youth.

An idea of this structure can be seen from a Jane's depiction (in error) dated 1996:^[2]

Units included:

• Airborne brigade consisting of 2 battalions (at Havana and its immediate environs)
• Artillery division (at Havana and its immediate environs)
• SAM Brigade^[3]
• An anti-aircraft artillery regiment^[3]

Western Army[]

In the late 1980s and early 1990s the Western Army was deployed in the capital and the provinces of Havana and Pinar del Río:

• 1st Armored Training Division
• 70th Mechanised Division
• "Sanguily Rescue"
• 2nd (Pinar del Río) Army Corps:
  • 24th Infantry Division
  • 27th Infantry Division
  • 28th Infantry Division

Central Army[]

In the 1980s–1990s the Central Army was deployed in the provinces of Matanzas, Villa Clara, Cienfuegos and Sancti Spiritus:

• 81st Infantry Division
• 84th Infantry Division
• 86th Infantry Division
• 89th Infantry Division
• 12th Armored Regiment/1st Armored Division
• 242nd Infantry Regiment/24th Infantry Division
• 4th (Las Villas) Army Corps:
  • 41st Infantry Division
  • 43rd Infantry Division
  • 48th Infantry Division

Eastern Army[]

In the 1980s–1990s the Eastern Army was deployed in the provinces of Santiago de Cuba, Guantánamo, Granma, Holguín, Las Tunas, Camagüey and Ciego de Avila:

• 3rd Armored Division
• 6th Armored Division
• 9th Armored Division
• 31st Infantry Division
• 32nd Infantry Division
• 38th Infantry Division
• 84th Infantry Division
• 90th Infantry Division
• 95th Infantry Division
• 97th Infantry Division
• Guantanamo Frontier Brigade (founded in 1961)^[4]
• 123rd Infantry Division/former 12th Infantry Division
• 281st Infantry Regiment/28th Infantry Division
• 5th (Holguín) Army Corps:
  • 50th Mechanised Division
  • 52nd Infantry Division
  • 54th Infantry Division
  • 56th Infantry Division
  • 58th Infantry Division
• 6th (Camagüey) Army Corps:
  • 60th Mechanised Division
  • 63rd Infantry Division
  • 65th Infantry Division
  • 69th Infantry Division

The International Institute for Strategic Studies wrote in The Military Balance 1994–95 that "the Cuban Army is undergoing major reorganisation; ..strength has been reduced by 60,000 to some 85,000 and is now structured on a brigade as opposed to a divisional basis." (p.194).

A U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency assessment in the first half of 1998 said that the army's armour and artillery units were at low readiness levels due to 'severely reduced' training, generally incapable of mounting effective operations above the battalion level, and that equipment was mostly in storage and unavailable at short notice.^[5] The same report said that Cuban special operations forces continue to train but on a smaller scale than beforehand, and that while the lack of replacement parts for its existing equipment and the current severe shortage of fuel were increasingly affecting operational capabilities, Cuba remained able to offer considerable resistance to any regional power.^[6]

Structure in 1999[]

In 1999 the Revolutionary Army represented approximately 70 percent of Cuba's regular military manpower. According to the IISS, the army's estimated 45,000 troops including 6,000 active and 39,000 members of the Ready Reserves who were completing the forty-five days of annual active-duty service necessary for maintaining their status, as well as conscripts who were fulfilling their military service requirement.^[7]

The IISS reported in 1999 that the army's troop formations consisted of four to five armored brigades; nine mechanized infantry brigades; an airborne brigade; fourteen reserve brigades; and the Border Brigade. In addition, there is an air defense artillery regiment and a surface-to-air missile brigade. Each of the three territorial armies is believed to be assigned at least one armored brigade-usually attached to the army's headquarters-as well as a mechanized infantry brigade. It is known that the Border Brigade in Guantanamo and at least one ground artillery regiment (attached to a mechanized infantry brigade), based in Las Tunas, are under the Eastern Army's command.^[7]

Circa 2007, there were an estimated 38,000 army personnel.^[8]

Equipment[]

Small arms[]

Name	Country of origin	Type	Notes
PM	Soviet Union	Semi-automatic pistol	Standard issue pistol.
APS		Machine pistol	Used by Special Forces
APS underwater rifle		Underwater assault rifle	In use with Special Forces.
SKS		Semi-automatic carbine	Mostly limited to use as a ceremonial weapon.
AKM		Assault rifle	Standard issue assault rifle.
RPK		Light machine gun
SG-43		Medium machine gun
KPV		Heavy machine gun
PKM		General-purpose machine gun
PM-63 RAK	Poland	Submachine gun	Used by some MTT units.
M16A1	United States	Assault rifle	Possibly captured sometime during the Cold War.
SVD	Soviet Union	Semi-automatic sniper rifle
Alejandro Sniper Rifle	Cuba	Bolt-action sniper rifle
Mambi AMR		Anti-material rifle
RPG-7	Soviet Union	Rocket-propelled grenade
SPG-9		Recoilless gun
AGS-17		Automatic grenade launcher
LPO-50		Flamethrower
RGD-5		Hand grenade
F1

Light and medium tanks[]

Name	Country of origin	Quantity	Notes
PT-76	Soviet Union	50	[9]

Main battle tanks[]

Name	Country of origin	Quantity	Notes
T-54/55	Soviet Union	800	T-55Ms active[9]
T-62		380	T-62Ms active[9]

Reconnaissance armoured vehicles[]

Name	Country of origin	Quantity	Notes
BRDM-2	Soviet Union	100

Infantry fighting vehicles[]

Name	Country of origin	Quantity	Notes
BMP-1	Soviet Union	120[10]

Armoured personnel carriers[]

Name	Country of origin	Quantity	Notes
BTR-40	Soviet Union	100
BTR-50		200
BTR-60		+800	Various versions of this vehicle. Including one with a 100 mm gun and a modified T-55 turret.
BTR-70		??
BTR-152	Soviet Union	150

Towed artillery[]

Name	Country of origin	Quantity	Notes
A-19	Soviet Union
D-20
D-30			Mostly used as guns for self-propelled artillery together with modernized A-19 122 mm.
M-30			Used as saluting guns firing 21-gun salutes.
M-46			This 130mm long range gun is used also as a self-propelled artillery piece in 6x6 truck called Jupiter-V and there is also a version mounted on a T-34 chassis.

Self-propelled artillery[]

Name	Country of origin	Quantity	Notes
2S1 Gvozdika	Soviet Union	60
2S3 Akatsiya		40

Multi rocket launchers[]

Name	Country of origin	Quantity	Notes
BM-21	Soviet Union
P-15 Termit

Mortars[]

Name	Country of origin	Quantity	Notes
M-38/43	Soviet Union
M-41/43

Anti-tank weapons[]

Name	Country of origin	Quantity	Notes
AT-3 Sagger	Soviet Union		Mounted on the BTR-60
AT-4 Spigot
T-12

Anti-aircraft guns[]

Name	Country of origin	Quantity	Notes
ZPU-4	Soviet Union	200
ZU-23-2		400
ZSU-23-4		36
ZSU-57-2		25
KS-19
M-1939		300
S-60		200

SAMs[]

Name	Country of origin	Quantity	Notes
SA-6 Gainful	Soviet Union	12
SA-7 Grail
SA-8 Gecko		16
SA-9 Gaskin		60
SA-13 Gopher		100
SA-14 Gremlin
SA-16 Gimlet
S-75 Dvina		144
S-125 Neva/Pechora		60

Self-propelled SAMs[]

Name	Country of origin	Quantity	Notes
S-75 Dvina	Soviet Union	25	On T-55 chassis.
S-125 Neva/Pechora			On T-55 chassis. This missile was seen in the Cuban Military Parade of 2006.

Uniforms[]

The most common uniform worn by Cuban soldiers appear to be solid color olive green utility uniforms. The utility uniform is worn with shined black combat boots, and the most common hats that are worn with this uniform are stiffened patrol caps that were made famous outside of the United States by being worn by Fidel Castro.

Soldiers in tank, military police, and special forces units are also allowed to wear berets with this uniform. The Cuban utility uniform looks a lot like the OG-107 uniform that used to be standard issue in the United States Armed Forces.

References[]

• CIA report October 1974
• CIA, The Cuban Military Establishment, 1979