[NYTr] Cuba upgrading its weapons in case of US invasion
 
Date: Tue, 28 Aug 2007 18:37:14 -0500 (CDT)


Via NY Transfer News Collective  *  All the News that Doesn't Fit
 
AFP via SpaceWar - Aug 27, 2007
http://www.spacewar.com/reports/Cuba_upgrading_its_weapons_in_case_of_US_invasion_999.html

Cuba upgrading its weapons in case of US invasion

by Staff Writers

Havana (AFP) Aug 27, 2007--Cuba has been upgrading its military arsenal
since President Fidel Castro fell ill 13 months ago, to defend itself
against a possible US invasion, senior officers told Trabajadores
weekly on Monday.

"In the irregular combat we would face in Cuba in case of an ivasion,
the engineering, infantry and artillery systems we produce and repair
here are of vital importance, because they're designed for the
agressor's direct assault," said Lieutenant Colonel Pascual Machado,
chief coordinator of Cuba's Military Industrial Firm (EMI).

EMI director, Colonel Arturo Torres, told the weekly the facilities he
runs "have increased their production level since 1998 more than
four-fold."

Weapon systems that have been upgraded in precision targeting and
destructive capabilities include munitions, grenades, land mines and
anti-tank rockets, Trabajadores said.

As an example, the weekly said a laser-guided targeting system called
VLMA, has boosted the AK-M automatic rifle's precision by 80-90
percent, regardless of the shooter's skill level.

Interim Cuban President Fidel Castro, on Cuba's July 26 national day
urged the successor of US President George W. Bush to seek an end to
more than a half century of US-Cuban enmity through dialogue.

Washington said talks would be possible only if Cuba turned to
democracy.

Raul, 76, who was appointed to Cuba's top post after Fidel, 81,
underwent delicate surgery on July 31, 2006, also warned that Cuba was
ready to defend itself if needed.

Raul said special military operation Caguairan, put in place following
Castro's illness, would finish at the end of 2008 -- US presidential
elections take place in November of next year.

Fidel Castro, who has been writing regularly in Cuba's leading
newspapers since March, in a June article said Cuba should continue
producing and buying weapons to defend itself from the "growing
aggression" of the Bush administration.

 
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