Russian General: We Will Send Missiles To Cuba

Following on the heels of last Sunday’s assessment of the re-opening of the Russian intelligence station in Lourdes, Cuba, a retired Russian General has stated that Russia intends to place intermediate range nuclear weapons on the island, according to UK Daily Star.

Retired Russian lieutenant-general Evgeny Buzhinskiy said several landmark nuclear disarmament treaties between Moscow and Washington are on the “verge of collapsing”.

“It’s a way to war, I’m sure about that,” he told Daily Star Online. “For us, it will be an existential threat.

Further noted in the article is the Jamestown Foundation’s assessment regarding the significance of the re-opening of the base, stating:

“If the Kremlin leader should decide to establish additional bases in Cuba, as some Russian commentators are now suggesting, that would be a different matter altogether – particularly if he succeeds in this goal.”

Those bases already exist, or at least are additions to the existing military infrastructure. In my assessment, the outpost is not merely a signals intelligence station as has been reported. While that has been one of its functions, the presence of a 3200 meter runway with paved roads leading into the adjacent complexes means one thing- heavy equipment or large-scale troop movements are to be supported. To put the size of the airfield in perspective, Jose Marti International Airport in nearby Havana has a runway of 4,000 meters. Both airfields are capable of supporting any size aircraft needed.

The Weapon May Be Fielded

The uncovered development of the Novator 9m729 (alternate name: SSC-8) has been at the heart of recent rhetoric between the US and Russia regarding the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty. The treaty specifies intermediate range weapons capable of carrying nuclear warheads to not have a range greater than 500km. The Obama Administration had direct knowledge of the treaty violation as early as 29 July 2014 according to Globalsecurity.org.

White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest on 29 July 2014 accused Russia of violating the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty. “The United States has determined, according to an intelligence analysis, that the Russian Federation is in violation of its obligations under the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF),” he stated at a press briefing in Washington.

According to the USAF National Air and Space Intelligence Center’s report in 2017, the weapon has a range of 2500km, well in excess of the treaty specifications. The report also indicated that the missile is an advancement of the 3M-54 Kalibr, a missile currently in use by the Russian Navy.

The Russian Missile Battalion organization includes four launching platforms with six missiles per launcher. This organization means that the weapons could rapidly be brought to bear in a theater of operations. Being a relatively small missile at 6-8m in length, moving a battery into an area is relatively simple- much more so with a large runway and prepared base. Keeping a short range strategic base supplied is made even easier considering China’s control of the Panama Canal.

“The Russians don’t take a dump, son, without a plan”

Strategically speaking, the development of this missile and the apparent intention to place them in Cuba points to a much larger scale plan. Learning from the mistakes of the past and taking into account the recent statements of President Trump in regard to military action in Venezuela, and most recently his administration’s intent to declare them a state sponsor of terror, it may be likely the weapons are already present in the region. A short airlift north and they’ll be up and running outside Havana. But their capability to capitalize on the threat is much higher now than it was in 1962, with the Chinese partnering with the Russians, both having built rapport with several of the Caribbean nations through economic and infrastructure aid. The supply line for sustained operations now exists unlike it did in the past, meaning they’re not going away without force and they’ve built that logistics path for future operations.

The Sino-Russian alliance is seeking to remove the US from its position of influence in the world- a position the Left in the US is more than willing to abdicate. The positioning of these weapons in Cuba will further serve to complicate an already volatile situation brewing in South America. It is one that very well could spill over onto our shores.


Joint Sino-Russian Military Base To Reopen in Cuba

The Russians have made public their plans to reopen the Lourdes Intelligence Station, according to multiple outlets including the Guardian, the BBC, and the UK Star. The Intelligence facility, located adjacent to Havana, was once the foreign largest military the USSR occupied. While the base was used for multiple different purposes, it most notably housed equipment for signals intelligence collection purposes ranging from monitoring radio traffic to active jamming. As technology evolved, so did its role- including being used to actively intercept US government satellite communications for both military and civilian agency use. Partnered with the Cuban DI, the base also served as a training station much the same way the CIA School of the Americas (later known as WHINSEC) does for fostering US interests in South and Central American nations. According to the Guardian in his most recent Latin American tour, Russian President Putin:

…also signed agreements to establish positioning stations in Argentina, Brazil and Cuba for Glonass, Russia’s answer to the United States’ global positioning system (GPS). He also made a surprise stop to discuss placing a Glonass station in Nicaragua, where president Daniel Ortega called Putin’s first visit to the country a “ray of light”.”The goal of Putin’s visit to Cuba, Nicaragua and Argentina was to strengthen geopolitical connections with Latin America in response to the United States’ attempts to isolate Russia,” Alexei Pushkov, the chairman of the foreign affairs committee in Russia’s parliament, tweeted after the trip.

Such a statement regarding Daniel Ortega is concerning, given the most recent abuses by the Leftist regime. But the example serves to illustrate Russia’s continuing commitment to supporting abusive puppet Leftist governments in South and Central America to further destabilize the United States’ relationships with our southern neighbors while also continuing political turmoil in those nations- which produces the flood of migrants we see on our border. Venezuela is a perfect example, unable to feed its people yet funding the so-called migrant caravan. Someone is propping them up. The Soviet Union never changed its long term plan.

The building of GLONASS positioning systems also provides a prime cover for action to build lots of other infrastructure, including GPS jamming systems. Both the Russians and the Chinese have been successful in their attempts to spoof both military and civilian GPS receivers. During the latest NATO exercise in Scandinavia, western forces were successfully jammed despite NATO reports to the contrary. Norway even lost a relatively new Frigate in an apparent collision with a merchant tanker, eerily similar to two incidents involving US Navy Destroyers USS Fitzgerald and USS John S. McCain. It would be safe to conclude that more of this will be happening in the future, much closer to home.

The Russians are not alone in their rekindled interests in Cuba. The Chinese are there also. The base in Lourdes is also home to Chinese interests since at least 1999, according to globalsecurity.org. Noted in the article:

In mid-1999, it was reported that the main Chinese intelligence collection facilities in Cuba were located northeast of Santiago de Cuba and in Bejucal, in the province of Havana [located at 22°55’43″N 082°23’19″E ]. Reportedly China signed an agreement in 2000 with the Cuban government to use Cuba’s satellite intercept facility at Bejucal, southwest of Havana. The facility, located near the Russian facility at Lourdes, was built in the early 1990’s with Russian equipment.

Using google earth as an open source imagery guide, I’ve downloaded sites of interest in the area. Logistically the base can serve a wide variety of functions and has a 3200 meter runway airstrip. It is located just west of the center of the Universidad de Siencias Informaticas, which is also the suspected location of parts of the Russian base.

The airfield can support very large aircraft moving in and has a direct road leading north into another complex with large buildings. This is a suspected joint Russian-Chinese military base, likely housing the bulk of the current signals intelligence equipment. While one of the goals of the signals collection and intelligence was specifically aimed at satellites, the complex also houses an antenna farm in the northeast corner which could possibly be used as a long distance re-transmission site for ground and air communications. This would make sense to armed forces understanding the vulnerabilities to satellite communications and creating a robust alternative. In addition to the other infrastructure, a possible missile launching platform is also present with the size and capability unknown to this author. But taking into consideration the rising tensions over the proposed exit of the Intermediate and Short range nuclear weapons treaty, its likely that those weapons will be nuclear capable.

With the tensions mounting abroad and political instability ever increasing within the US, it seems likely that there’s a prime opportunity to continue to destabilize the United States. With the Chinese having a large hand in the funding of academic think tanks and purchasing Spanish language propaganda outlets just south of the border, they appear to be ready to exploit the conditions of revolution that they have helped create on multiple fronts- and most dangerously, an influx of migrants and brainwashed Maoist intelligentsia. The Sino-Russian alliance has a clear goal that extends past simply partying in the US’ back yard. They want us off the world stage. They’re building 50,000 AK-103 carbines in Caracas for a reason.

U.S. Says Russia Planning Naval Drills in Caribbean Sea

Washington is tracking Russian warships headed to the Caribbean Sea for military exercises this summer, Reuters and the Associated Press reported, citing unnamed U.S. officials.

According to the reports, officials said they believe the anticipated drills were “certainly” part of Russia’s broader response to U.S. support for Ukraine.

AP said Moscow has not notified Washington about the drills, which Reuters described as “heightened naval and air activity near the United States.”

The “handful” of Russian warships and support vessels might make port calls in Cuba and Venezuela, officials said. Both countries have historically maintained close ties with Russia.

The reports came as President Vladimir Putin threatened that Moscow could arm countries to attack Western targets in response to the Western governments allowing Kyiv to use their weapons to strike targets inside Russia.

The officials cited by Reuters and AP underscored that Russia was planning “regular” drills and that militaries around the world have the right to conduct exercises in international waters.

Russia’s Defense Ministry has not publicly announced plans to hold naval exercises in the Caribbean Sea in the coming weeks.

“These actions will culminate in a global Russian naval exercise this fall,” a U.S. official was quoted as saying.

Russia is also seeking to project its naval power around the world after suffering losses in the Black Sea during the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the officials added.