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Angola Ground Forces
The regular army's 91,500 troops were organized into
more than
seventy brigades ranging from 750 to 1,200 men each and
deployed
throughout the ten military regions. Most regions were
commanded by
lieutenant colonels, with majors as deputy commanders, but
some
regions were commanded by majors. Each region consisted of
one to
four provinces, with one or more infantry brigades
assigned to it.
The brigades were generally dispersed in battalion or
smaller unit
formations to protect strategic terrain, urban centers,
settlements, and critical infrastructure such as bridges
and
factories. Counterintelligence agents were assigned to all
field
units to thwart UNITA infiltration. The army's diverse
combat
capabilities were indicated by its many regular and
motorized
infantry brigades with organic or attached armor,
artillery, and
air defense units; two militia infantry brigades; four
antiaircraft
artillery brigades; ten tank battalions; and six artillery
battalions. These forces were concentrated most heavily in
places
of strategic importance and recurring conflict: the
oil-producing
Cabinda Province, the area around the capital, and the
southern
provinces where UNITA and South African forces operated.
Special commands, military formations, and security
arrangements were also created in extraordinary
circumstances.
Thus, for example, in June 1985 the provincial military
authorities
in the Tenth Military Region established a unified command
to
include both FAPLA and the People's Vigilance Brigades
(Brigadas
Populares de Vigilância--BPV) to confront UNITA's
expanding
operations in the region
(see Internal Security Forces and Organization
, this ch.). Similarly, special railroad
defense
committees were formed in the Ninth Military Region to
protect the
Luanda Railway between Malanje and Luanda
(see
fig. 10).
These
municipal committees were composed of party, government,
FAPLA,
JMPLA, and BPV units. In 1987 FAPLA was reported to be
recruiting
regional defense forces to assist the regular army against
UNITA
insurgency, but in late 1988 no additional details were
available.
FAPLA was equipped almost exclusively by the Soviet
Union. In
early 1988, it was reported to have at least 550 tanks and
520
armored vehicles, more than 500 artillery pieces and
multiple
rocket launchers, 500 mortars, at least 900 antitank
weapons, and
more than 300 air defense guns and surface-to-air missile
(SAM)
batteries (see
table 12, Appendix A). However, in view of
continuous losses and the influx of new and replacement
matériel,
these figures were only approximate. For example, the
South African
minister of defense reported in late 1988 that Angola's
inventory
of T-54 and T-55 tanks had increased from 531 to 1,590
between
September 1987 and September 1988. Moreover, FAPLA and
UNITA
exaggerated successes and underestimated losses in
military
actions. In the major battle of Mavinga in 1986, UNITA
claimed to
have killed 5,000 FAPLA troops and to have destroyed 41
combat
aircraft, 202 tanks and armored vehicles, 351 military
transport
vehicles, 200 trucks, and 40 SAMs, figures that
represented 15
percent to 25 percent of FAPLA's inventory.
In addition to combat troops and equipment, logistical
support
units, and extensive headquarters organizations, the armed
forces
established a growing infrastructure to service, repair,
and
manufacture defense equipment. In 1983 the government
created a new
company under the Ministry of Defense to rehabilitate and
repair
armored military vehicles, infantry weapons, and
artillery. A
maintenance and repair center for Soviet-made light and
heavy
vehicles, located at Viana near Luanda, was turned over to
Angolan
authorities by the Soviet Union in 1984 to strengthen
Angolan selfsufficiency . This center, reportedly capable of servicing
600
military and commercial vehicles a day, was one of the
largest of
its kind in Africa. Viana was also the site of an assembly
plant
for commercial vehicles as well as military trucks and
jeeps. In
June 1986, the government signed a contract with the
Brazilian
company Engesa for the purchase of military trucks and
construction
of a facility with the capacity to repair about 30 percent
of the
country's heavy trucks, military vehicles foremost.
The regular army was also supported by a 50,000-member
citizens' militia, the Directorate of People's Defense and
Territorial Troops, an organization under the minister of
defense
that had both counterinsurgency and police functions. The
directorate was established in September 1985 as a
successor to the
People's Defense Organization (Organização de Defesa
Popular--ODP).
The ODP had been formed in September 1975 as an adjunct to
FAPLA to
defend against Portuguese settler resistance and attacks
by antiMPLA insurgents. After the civil war, it retained its
territorial
defense and counterguerrilla supporting roles but served
more as a
reserve than as an active paramilitary force. Indeed, some
20,000
ODP militia were inducted into the regular army in the
early 1980s,
apparently to satisfy an urgent requirement to expand
FAPLA. In
1988 the Directorate of People's Defense and Territorial
Troops was
organized into eleven "Guerrilla Force" brigades, two of
which
(about 10,000 members) were to be on active duty with
FAPLA at any
given time. They were deployed in battalion and smaller
formations,
and they often operated in proximity to or jointly with
FAPLA
units, defending factories, farms, and villages and
maintaining
vigilance against insurgents. Although some estimates put
the troop
strength of the Guerrilla Force as high as 500,000, such
figures
were probably based on data from the late 1970s or
reflected the
inclusion of reserve components. Lieutenant Colonel
Domingos Paiva
da Silva was commander of the Guerrilla Force from 1978
until his
death from natural causes in July 1987
(see Internal Security Forces and Organization
, this ch.).
Data as of February 1989
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