Angola NATIONAL SECURITY
Armed Forces: Active-duty strength consisted of
army of
91,500, air and air defense force of 7,000, and navy of
1,500;
reserve personnel of 50,000. At end of 1988, armed forces
supported
by nearly 50,000 Cuban troops and a few thousand Soviet
and East
German advisers. Army supported by 50,000-member
Directorate of
People's Defense and Territorial Troops, a kind of reserve
militia.
Two years of universal and compulsory conscription.
Combat Units and Major Equipment: Army organized
into
more than seventy brigades in ten military regions.
Operated about
1,100 Soviet-manufactured tanks and armored fighting
vehicles. Air
force organized into three regiments (fighter-bomber,
transport,
and helicopter). Combat aircraft included MiG-23 and
MiG-21
fighters. Navy used three ports and had guided missile
fast patrol
boats and torpedo boats.
Military Budget: Amounted to US$1.3 billion in
1986 (in
constant 1980 dollars)--more than 40 percent of government
expenditures and about 30 percent of GNP.
Paramilitary and Internal Security Forces:
Largest group
was People's Vigilance Brigades, a lightly armed citizens'
militia
with strength of from 800,000 to 1.5 million. In 1988
about 7,000
border guards and 8,000 police officers (supported by
force of
10,000).
Data as of February 1989
|