The Cuban Missile Crisis

Modelling US reconnaissance assets in 1/72 Part 2: The Nuclear Confrontation 

- Stephen J Di Nucci , Vic Flintham

As noted last month, on 22 October 1962 the US President, via the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS), placed the US military (with the exception of the US Army in Europe) on a DEFCON 3 alert level. In addition to the surface-to-air defensive missiles previously noted, both short-range Frog missiles (much later revealed to have been available with twelve nuclear warheads), and SSC-2a Salish missiles (also later revealed with eighty nuclear warheads) were found on the island, together with much more serious hardware at the following sites: Guanajay - Two SS-5 Skean IRBMs Remedios - One SS-5 Skean IRBM San Cristobal - Four SS-4 Sandal MRBMs Sagua la Grande - Two SS-4 Sandal MRBMs

On Cuban airfields there were the following aircraft: Baracoa - FAR Mi-1, Mi-4 Camaguey - 3 Sqn 213 Av Regt PVO, MIG-21F-13, FAR MiG-15bis Ciudad Libertad - FAR MiG-15Rbis (recce), Mi-4 Holguin - VVS II-28, FAR MiG-15bis Mariel - 437th Helicopter Regt, VVS, Mi-4 San Antonio de los Banos - 2 Sqn, 213 Av Regt PVO, MIG-21F-13, FAR MIG19P, MiG-15bis, Il-14 San Julian - 759 Torpedo Regt VMF, II-28 Santa Clara - 1 Sqn 213 Av Regt PVO, MiG-21F-13, FAR MiG-15bis FAR - Fuerza Aérea Revolucionaria (Cuban Air Force)

The ensuing nuclear confrontation with the Soviets was, of course, led by USAF Strategic Air Command (SAC). On 20 October two aircraft from each of the B-52 wings were placed on standby ground alert on Emergency War Order (EWO), nuclear payload status pending a formal presidential decision. Following the DEFCON 3 declaration on 22 October, at 17:00 EDT Commander in Chief SAC (CINCSAC) directed a one eighth airborne alert for the B-52 wings under so-called Chrome Dome. Approximately sixty-five airborne B-52s were 'target effective' with nuclear weapons at any given time. There were to be three routes flown to the Soviet Union - Thule (two aircraft), the northern route (twenty-eight