What A US Invasion Of Cuba Would Have Faced

 

Thierry Etienne Joseph Rotty

·

October 26

Is it a fact that if the U.S invaded Cuba in 1962 during the Cuban Missile Crisis, they would have confronted four times the 10,000 Soviet troops the CIA estimated there was at the time in Cuba?

No.

Operation Anadyr [a river] was made up of the following elements:

1. Four Motorized Rifle Regiments (without divisional structure): 302nd, 314th, 400th, and 496th.
2. Two Anti-Aircraft Missile Divisions: the 10th and the 11th. The 10th had anti-aircraft guns, the 11th 144 S-75 SAMs.
3. A Fighter Aviation Regiment, the 32nd Guards flying 40 MiG-21F-13, and 6 MiG-15UTI.
4. The 51 Consolidated Missile Division consisting of the 79th Missile Regiment with 16 launchers and 24 R-14 (SS-5 Skean) missiles and the 181st Missile Regiment with 24 launchers and 36 R-12 (SS-4 Sandal) missiles. All carried nuclear warheads.
5. The 134th Separate Aviation Squadron with 17 transport aircraft.
6. The 437th Separate Helicopter Regiment with 33 Mi-4 (Hound) helicopters.
7. The 561st and 584th Cruise Missile Regiments with 16 launchers for the FKR-1 cruise missile with a nuclear warhead. The 584th was also responsible for the 3 Luna (FROG-5) rocket detachments with a nuclear warhead as well (16 launchers and missiles).
8. The 759th Mine and Torpedo Aviation Regiment with 33 Il-28 (Beagle) bombers. They had 6 nuclear warheads.
9. The 5th Fleet with the 18th Naval Divison (2 cruisers (Project 68-bis (Sverdlov Class)), 4 destroyers ( 2Project 57-bis (Kanin Class) and 2 Project 56 (Kotlin Class)), and 12 missile boats (Project 183R (Komar Class)), and the 211th Submarine brigade (11 submarines: 7 Project 629 (Golf Class), one with three R-13 (SS-N-4 Sark) SLBMs, and 3 Project 641 (Foxtrot Class) submarines), 2 Project 310 floating bases, and six auxiliary vessels. Most surface vessels neer reached Cuba, the Komar Class missiles boats were an exception.
10. Support units include three field hospitals (600 beds), a sanitation and anti-epidemic detachment, a base maintenance company, 7 storage depots, and a field bakery.

The total number of Soviets troops, all branches, on Cuban soil numbered 50,874 and 3,000 civilian personnel attached to the Soviet Group of Forces in Cuba (official designation).