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Angola Noncommunist Nations
In the 1980s, Angola diversified its foreign arms
acquisitions
for political and practical reasons. Politically, Luanda
was
anxious to gain international legitimacy, counter UNITA's
international diplomatic offensive, reduce its dependence
on its
communist allies, and gain leverage in dealing with its
traditional
arms suppliers. The practical reason was dissatisfaction
with the
level of support given by the Soviet Union and its allies,
the poor
quality of some equipment, and the inability to obtain
certain
military matériel. Perhaps in deference to the Soviet
Union and
other communist benefactors, most procurements from other
sources
consisted of relatively inexpensive support equipment.
This policy
left Moscow with a virtual monopoly on the provision of
major
weapons systems.
Diversification was evident in FAPLA's purchase of
jeeps, Land
Rovers, and radios from Britain, trucks and communications
equipment from West Germany, small-caliber ammunition and
artillery
shells from Belgium, uniforms from Japan, and jeeps,
trucks, and
truck engines from Brazil. The MGPA also discussed the
acquisition
of corvettes with French, Spanish, and Portuguese
shipbuilders.
Among the larger purchases made from Western Europe were
Swiss
Pilatus training aircraft; Spanish CASA C-212 Aviocar
transport
aircraft; French Dauphin, Gazelle, and Alouette
helicopters; French
Thomson-CSF tactical military transceivers; and British
Racal radio
communications equipment.
Ironically, Portugal continued to play a role in the
Angolan
conflict. Although the Portuguese government did not
officially
provide arms, military assistance, or troops, private
Portuguese
"mercenaries" and advisers apparently served with both
FAPLA and
UNITA. In 1983 retired Portuguese admiral Rosa Coutinho
set up a
company to hire former military and reserve officers, many
of whom
had served in Angola during the war of liberation, as
contract
military advisers and to train FAPLA counterinsurgency
units.
Twelve were reported to be training FAPLA instructors in
early
1984, and a total of thirty-two were reportedly hired in
1986.
However, several of these advisers were killed in action
against
UNITA, and most left by late 1987. UNITA also claimed that
some
3,000 Portuguese "communists" were in the country
assisting Luanda
in late 1986, but this claim may have been either an
exaggeration
or a reference to civilian technicians. MPLA-PT sources
charged
that there were more than 2,000 South African-trained
Portuguese
commandos fighting with UNITA.
Data as of February 1989
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