Air and Air Defense Forces
The Air and Air Defense Forces [Defensa Antiaerea y Fuerza Aerea Revolucionaria - DAAFAR] are now incapable of defending Cuban airspace against large numbers of high-performance military aircraft. Slower or less sophisticated aircraft, however, would be vulnerable to Cuban air and air defense systems. The Air Force probably has less than 2 dozen operational MiG fighters. Pilot training is judged barely adequate to maintain proficiency. Fighter sorties have declined significantly in recent years. Cuba would rely on its surface-to-air missiles (SAM) and its air defense artillery to respond to attacking air forces. By 1998 the number of airworthy tactical aircraft was very small, significantly less than it used to be.
As of 1983 the Cuban Air Force had more than 250 combat jet aircraft, and their MiG-23 inventory tripled during the past year. The MiG-23 has a combat radius of more than 500 nautical miles, so much of the Southeastern United States would be vulnerable to air attack from Cuba during a general war. Consequently, significant air defense assets are required to defend US territory from the Cuban MiG-23 air regiment. Castro’s force of more than 160 MiG-21s represents a potent air-to-air threat and a formidable air defense umbrella over the island. The Cuban Air Force had become one of the largest and probably the best equipped and most powerful in Latin America, and its bases are defended by an equally capable and sophisticated air defense system. Its array of weapons includes SA-2, SA-3, and SA-6 surface-to-air missiles and 23-mm, 37-mm, 57-mm, 85-mm, and 100-mm antiaircraft guns in great quantities.
A Cuban MiG-21 fighter aircraft was flown to Key West on September 20, 1993 by a defecting Cuban pilot.
The Cuban air defense zone is up to the 24th parallel. The US air defense identification zone, so-called ADIZ, and the Cuban zone abut the 24th parallel. The Cubans go south of the 24th parallel and the US goes north of the 24th parallel. The standard procedure is that when the US sees Cuban planes taking off, they are watched very closely. If they appear to be approaching the 24th parallel and ready to penetrate the 24th parallel going north, the US will launch planes and go up and check them out. This happens very rarely, since the Cuban Air Force doesn't operate at a high tempo, and secondly, many of the flights are in a different direction.
In 1996, the Cuban Air Force shot down two US registered civilian aircraft in international airspace. On February 24, 1996, at about 1322 eastern daylight time, two U.S.-registered Cessna 337's were shot down after entering Cuban airspace by the Cuban air force. On board each aircraft were two people, one pilot and one passenger. All occupants of both airplanes were reported missing and presumed dead. The four pilots, Armando Alejandre, Jr, 45, Pablo Morales, 30, Mario de la Pena, 26, and Carlos Costa, 29, were flying a humanitarian mission for the organization known as Brothers to the Rescue. Their mission was to fly over the Straits of Florida searching for Cubans who set out on make-shift rafts seeking freedom from the tyranny of Fidel Castro.
As a result of this action, the President of the United States and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issued an “Emergency Cease and Desist Order and Statement of Policy,” which allows for vigorous enforcement action against U.S. registered aircraft that violate Cuban airspace. Pursuant to an Executive Order issued after the 1996 incident, boaters must coordinate their travel plans to Cuba with the US Coast Guard. On February 27, 1996, the United Nations Security Council strongly deplored the destruction of the two civil aircraft by the Cuban air force, and requested that the International Civil Aviation Organization investigate the incident in its entirety and report its findings to the Security Council as soon as possible.
