New York Times
April 19, 1961.  p. 12.

Soviet Small Arms Chief Assets Of Cuban Units Fighting Rebels

        WASHINGTON, April 18 (AP)--The Soviet bloc's contribution of small arms and other anti personnel weapons is Fidel Castro's best asset in combatting the revolutionary forces seeking his overthrow in Cuba.
        Some, although not all of the recent gifts from the Communist arsenal can be impractical for the kind of warfare in which the Havana Government is locked.
        Essentially this revolution--like the one Castro staged to topple the regime of Fulgencio Batista--is primarily an infantry operation.
        Automatic arms, light artillery, grenades and similar weapons--plus ample manpower--are useful.

Tanks Being Emplyed
        Rebel sources in New York said the Government forces were using Soviet-made heavy tanks and MIG jet aircraft.
        A report from a New Orleans priest, who says he is in contact with the revolutinaries, says Premier Castro's forces were using Soviet-made Stalin tanks. These tanks weigh about fifty-one tons.
        No ordinary bridge can support their weight, Swampland, such as that southeast of Havana where one of the major invasion landings has been made, is not suitable country for such tanks.
        On the other hand, tanks can be used as fixed defensive fortifications along roads.
        The MIG jet fighters, which were landed in Cuba by Soviet merchant ships beginning last year, are useful as interceptor aircraft. Their high speed makes them less practicable for operation against ground troops organized in small units and moving through mountainous terrain or forest cover.
        On the other hand, the anti-aircraft guns given to Dr. Castro by his Soviet friends can be useful if the revolutionary forces have only older, slower types of planes vulerable to such fire.
Cuban Navy Unreliable
        Most of Premier Castro's anti-invasion efforts must be based on land. The Cuban Navy is tiny and has proved unreliable.
        The defection of Navy personnel, as well as Cuban Air Force men, has been reported in increasing numbers.
        Sources in Washington had no immediate confirmation of a published report that the Soviet Union planned to send one or more destroyers to Cuba.
        Uncertainty about the loyalty of Cuban crews would raise questions about the use of Communist-contributed destroyers--unless Soviet seamen were aboard, ostensibly serving as observers and technical advisers.
        Some Soviet naval officers and technically rated men may have been among the advisers filtering into Cuba from merchant ships.