NSA and the Cuban Missile Crisis

fifty-seven

voyages

in

a

little

over

a

month,

and

some

ships

were

on

their

second

voyage

in

that

period

of

time.

THE

CRISIS

GROWS

Cuban

air

defenses

improved

at

an

accelerating

pace.

In

May,

BGINT

reports

had

the

first

indication of

airborne

fire

control

radar

on

MiG-17

and

MiG-19

planes.

Ground

radar activity

became

heavier

all

over

the

island.

By

early

summer,

NSA

analysts

concluded

that

the

Cubans

were

putting

together

an

air

defense

system

copied

from the

Soviet

model.

Equipment,

training,

and

procedures

were

the

same.

In

fact,

by

early

fall

NSA

was

listening

to

Russian

ground

controllers

speaking

in

heavily

accented

Spanish

to

Cuban