MISSILES IN CUBA

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP79T00827A000200110005-9
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 7
• Document Creation Date: December 12, 2016
• Document Release Date: June 26, 2002
• Sequence Number: 5
• Publication Date: April 26, 1966
• Content Type: BRIEF

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26 April 1966
DCI BRIEFING FOR
RIVERS SUBCOMMITTEE
MISSILES IN CUBA
I. Mister Chairman, you asked me in a letter of
April 6 to comment on a lengthy article which
appeared on March 3 in the Coral Gables Times
in Florida. This article alleged that there
are still strategic Soviet missiles in Cuba.
II. The article is a mish-mash of conjecture,
speculation, rumor, and outright misinformation.
It contains no information that had not been
previously reported and checked out in exhaustive
detail.
A. I want you to know, however, that no reports
of this nature are dismissed out of hand.
We could not afford to do so--and indeed would
be guilty of gross negligence--as long as we
can not have on-site inspection of any possible
missile sites in Cuba.
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to the US Pershing."
4. The conclusion of the investigation was
that all of the information on which the
article was based came from missile and
rocket publications, talks with Cuban
refugees, and the Interim Report published
by the Subcommittee of the Senate Armed
Services Committee on May 9, 1963, entitled
"The Cuban Military Buildup"--a report
relating to the 1962 buildup which led to
the crisis in October, 1962.
III. The article itself, as I said, is full of misinformation
A. One photograph, for example, shows a missile on
a tracked vehicle , and describes it as "similar
1. On this foundation, the article asserts that
Cuba has a nuclear weapon which can reach
"Cape Canaveral, Huntsville, and many lower
southern military installations and cities."
2. In point of fact, the weapon shown in the
photograph is a Soviet tactical missile, the
FROG, with a range of 29 nautical miles.
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PERSHING's range, with an 800-pound warhead,
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is 400, rather than 700 nautical miles.
B. Another photograph is described as showing a
"naval-type cruise missile with a reported
range of 150 to 200 miles," which again, of
course, would bring Florida within range.
1. The missile shown in the photograph is
what we call the KENNEL. As a coastal
defense cruise missile, it actually has
a range of 25 to 50 nautical miles,
depending on the elevation of the launch
site. The ground forces version, mounted
on a transporter-launcher, is credited
with a range of 60 to 70 nautical miles.
2. The article, however, goes on to speak of
a cruise-type missile of medium or inter-
mediate range. This is supposed to have
been shown in the January, 1964,parade in
Havana.
C. The article also brings up the ancient stories
about a secret Soviet weapon called the "GOLEM,"
which fires strategic missiles from fixed underwater
installations presumably planted by ship or by
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1. This one is straight out of science
fiction. We have never obtained any
credible evidence that the Soviet Union
has, or is even working on, such a weapons
system.
D. I have given these examples, not for the
purpose of arguing that two or three mistakes
are enough to discredit the entire article,
but as examples of how every single statement
in an article of this kind is checked out
carefully against all available information
from all of our sources.
1. Our continuing watch over the possibility
of strategic missiles in Cuba utilizes
all of our resources
IV. There is a joint team of CIA and DIA intelligence
experts, representing both military and Cuban
expertise, which meets once a month, and more often
if necessary, to assess the military posture of Cuba
with special attention to the possibility that
strategic weapons might still be on the island.
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A. The latest joint CIA-DIA report on this
problem, dated April 19, concludes that:
"Cuba's present missile inventory is
confined to defensive and tactical weapons...
There are no strategic weapons or foreign
troop units in Cuba at this time. While we
recognize that some strategic weapons could
be deliberately concealed or clandestinely
reintroduced on the island, it is our
judgment that this has not taken place."
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