Ground forces of the Republic of Angola. Angolan Armed Forces Angolan Army

FOREIGN MILITARY REVIEW No. 11/2005, pp. 27-32

GROUND FORCES

Colonel L. BANDALETS

The military-political leadership (GLP) of the Republic of Angola (RA) pays great attention to the development of the national armed forces (AF), considering them as the main guarantor of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the country, as well as the main support of the ruling regime in matters of ensuring internal political stability. The VPR, taking into account the special role of the Armed Forces in the political system of the state, takes all necessary measures to maintain them in combat readiness.

The fundamental principles of the construction and operation of the Angolan Armed Forces are reflected in the laws “On National Security” and “On National Defense and Armed Forces” of 1993.

In accordance with the Constitution of the Republic of Angola, the supreme commander of the armed forces is the President of the Republic (J. E. dos Santos). They are directly supervised by the Minister of Defense (General K. Payama), and operational control of the troops is entrusted to the Chief of the General Staff (Army General A. F. Nelumba).

As in most African countries, military service in Angola is a prestigious activity that provides the opportunity for a sustainable income and a respected position in society.

The country's leadership is taking measures to reform the Armed Forces, which operate in the conditions of new military-political realities and resist internal and external threats to the national independence and territorial integrity of the Republic of Armenia.

After the end of hostilities in March 2002, financial expenditures on defense were significantly reduced (the military department budget in 2004 was about $1 billion). Currently, the main attention of the military leadership is focused on finding potential partners who can provide assistance on preferential terms in matters of restoring the combat readiness of weapons and military equipment(arms and military equipment) located in units and divisions, as well as improving the repair base of aircraft types.

The Angolan armed forces consist of three branches: ground forces (ground forces), air force(Air Force) and Navy (Navy). Total number personnel Armed Forces 112.4 thousand people, including: Ground Forces - 97.9 thousand, Air Force - 8.8 thousand and Navy - 5.7 thousand.

Ground forces are the main and most numerous type of aircraft. Administratively, they are subordinate to the Minister of Defense, and operationally, to the Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces. This type is directly supervised by the commander (General Mateus Miguel Angelo), who is also the chief of staff of the ground forces.

The Headquarters of the Ground Forces - the central control body of this type of armed forces - exercises operational leadership of the Ground Forces in wartime, as well as planning combat training and organizing the daily activities of units and units in peacetime ( organizational structure SV headquarters, see diagram).

According to the Angolan military leadership, the ground forces are an independent branch of the armed forces and are intended to conduct combat operations on land. In terms of their combat capabilities, they are capable, both independently and in cooperation with other types of armed forces, to conduct an offensive with the aim of defeating groupings of enemy troops and capturing its territory, delivering fire strikes to operational depth, repelling an enemy invasion, including fighting its air and sea forces. landings.

In wartime, the Army is entrusted with the following tasks: protecting the national territory and population; repelling an enemy invasion, inflicting maximum damage on it with available forces and means; carrying out retaliatory strikes in order to restore the situation along the state border; pursuing the enemy beyond national territory until he is completely defeated.

In peacetime, the primary functions of the Army are: protecting the national territory from external and internal threats; participation in the restoration of the country’s infrastructure and demining of its own territory; participation in peacekeeping operations to maintain peace within international organizations; participation in eliminating the consequences of natural disasters.

Currently, the ground forces include: ten district headquarters, nine separate brigades (seven motorized infantry, tank and artillery), 19 separate regiments (16 infantry, special purpose, air defense and military police).

This type of armed forces is armed with: 389 battle tanks, 1,663 pieces of artillery (including 191 calibers over 100 mm), 130 MLRS, 1,342 mortars, 299 anti-tank and 261 anti-aircraft weapons, 334 armored combat vehicles.

Issues of recruiting ground forces, serving in them by various categories of military personnel, their status and social status, as well as the procedure for ensuring various types allowances are enshrined in a number of government regulations. These include the laws “On Military Service” (No. 1/93 of March 26, 1993) and “On Pensions,” as well as a number of other additional legislative acts and regulations relating to military service issues.

Citizens are called to military service for a period of two years, and also recruits volunteers on short-term (16-24 months) and long-term (three to five years) contracts.

The male population of the republic (citizens of the country) aged 18 to 50 years is liable for military service. The exceptions are those who permanently reside abroad, as well as stateless persons who enjoy the rights of refugees or internally displaced persons permanently residing in Angola.

Article 2 of the Law “On Military Service” states that universal conscription is established in Angola. According to the country's constitution, the defense of national sovereignty and territorial integrity of the republic is the sacred duty and honorable responsibility of every Angolan citizen.

Deployment diagram of Angolan ground forces

Military service is divided into active and reserve service. Men between the ages of 20 and 30 are called up for active military service. Upon completion, the personnel are demobilized, while remaining in the reserve, from where they can be called back into the ranks of the armed forces, depending on the needs of the Ministry of Defense for scarce military specialties. Military personnel whose period of stay in the Armed Forces Reserve has expired (on reaching 50 years of age or due to health reasons) are considered to have completed their military service.

Recruitment of regular officers is carried out, as a rule, by graduates of the officer school (Lobito), as well as reserve officers and those who graduated from the A. Neto University (Luanda) and decided to connect their lives with the army. Most of them are sent to serve in infantry and motorized infantry units. Graduates of the school occupy positions up to and including company commander, and as they advance in service they may be awarded military rank up to captain (inclusive) The school lasts two years. During the first year, cadets receive the basics of military knowledge and skills necessary for a squad and platoon commander. After this, they are awarded the military rank of “graduate student” and are sent for an internship in the troops (for four to six months, depending on their specialization). Then, for the remaining time, future officers are trained to manage units up to and including the company. According to curriculum about 50 percent time is allocated to the study of military disciplines, up to 40 percent. - for general education subjects and 10 percent. - for physical training.

The operational and combat training of headquarters, units and subunits as a whole is at a satisfactory level, allowing them to solve the tasks assigned to the ground forces and the armed forces as a whole. At the same time in the organization educational process There are no noticeable qualitative changes; officials do not pay due attention to working out practical issues. Insufficient funding and poor logistics support for troops, as well as the lack of necessary experience among many commanders, often lead to the disruption of planned events and the postponement of their implementation.

At the same time, fundamental documents have recently been developed, the implementation of which can raise combat training to a qualitatively new level (organizational and methodological instructions for the training of ground forces, plans for the training of command and control bodies and troops, a combat training program for motorized infantry (infantry, tank) units and subunits, officer command training program).

Recently, the following events have been carried out in SV:

Training and methodological gatherings at the Army headquarters with the heads of operational directorates and combat training departments on planning and organizing operational and combat training; in military districts (MD) - with commanders of formations and units, heads of combat training departments of military districts, battalion commanders on the methods of organizing and conducting classes with a platoon, company, battalion in the main subjects of training;

Demonstrative separate staff training with the operational control of the Ground Forces headquarters, separate staff training in the directorates of the Ground Forces headquarters;

Command post exercises with 5 military units;

Joint staff training with the Army Headquarters;

Demonstration exercises for conducting company tactical live-fire exercises and platoon live-fire exercises.

In addition, ground forces units participated in the Felino 2004 exercise within the Community of Portuguese-speaking Countries.

An analysis of the activities carried out shows that the leadership of the Armed Forces managed to achieve the desired result in operational and combat training, and the process of improving the training and material base is underway. The level of methodological and professional excellence officer corps, interaction between command and control bodies and troops, but it does not yet allow for a full, high-quality solution to issues related to operational and combat training.

Negotiations on cooperation in the field of military education with Russian Federation, Portugal, Spain, Brazil, Cuba, Israel, China, South Africa. Angolan military personnel will be able to receive education not only abroad, but also at home thanks to the help of foreign military specialists.

The formations and units of the Angolan Army are armed with weapons and military equipment mainly of Soviet production, a significant part of which has exhausted its service life and is obsolete, which, with a weak repair base, makes their maintenance and combat use difficult. A particularly difficult situation, as Western experts note, has arisen in armored and artillery units, where the shortage of military equipment is 60 and 80 percent, respectively.

The country's difficult economic situation and lack of financial resources are forcing the Angolan government to turn to foreign partners for help, including Russia and the CIS countries.

The overwhelming majority of Angolan Armed Forces personnel are loyal to the ruling regime, which is primarily due to the high social status military personnel and the wide range of benefits they have.

In the context of the country's transition to peaceful construction, its military-political leadership plans to take a number of steps to reform the Armed Forces. In particular, by 2010 it is planned to reduce the number of personnel by 10-15 percent, reorganize the command and control system, and also implement a set of measures aimed at increasing the combat readiness of formations and units (primarily by updating the fleet of combat vehicles).

The General Staff, when deciding on the issue of reducing the number of personnel, proceeds from the fact that insufficiently competent commanders and superiors, as well as persons whose loyalty to the current VIR is in doubt, should be dismissed from the ranks of the armed forces. According to the RA military leadership, these organizational measures should not negatively affect the level of combat readiness of the troops.

In general, the Angolan armed forces in general and the ground forces in particular are currently low level their equipment with modern weapons and military equipment are capable of performing the tasks facing them only to a limited extent. Western experts associate further improvement of the armed forces with foreign military assistance.

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Armed forces Angola(port. Forças Armadas Angolanas, FAA ) - military organization Republic of Angola, intended to protect the freedom, independence and territorial integrity of the state. Consists of the ground forces, air force and navy.

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General information

Angolan Armed Forces
Types of armed forces:	Angolan ground forces, including the air force; Angolan National Air Force (port. Força Aerea Nacional Angolana, FANA ) Angolan Navy (port. Marinha de Guerra Angola, MGA(as of 2011)
Conscription age and recruitment procedure:	The Armed Forces of Angola are staffed, on the basis of the law on universal conscription, by Angolan citizens aged 20-45 years; term of conscription service - 2 years; voluntary military service for citizens aged 18-45 years; The Angolan Navy is composed entirely of volunteer contract service; voluntary military service for women aged 20-45 years. (as of 2011)
Human resources available for military service:	men aged 16-49: 3,062,438 women aged 16-49: 2,964,262 (2010 estimate)
Human resources suitable for military service:	men aged 16-49: 1,546,781 women aged 16-49: 1,492,308 (2010 estimate)
Human resources reaching military age annually:	men: 155,476 women: 152,054 (2010 estimate)
Military expenditures - percentage of GDP:	3.6% (as of 2009), 32nd place in the world

Composition of the armed forces

Ground forces

The Angolan ground forces are divided into five military districts - Luanda, North, Center, East, South. They consist of the 1st AK, five infantry divisions (from the 2nd to the 6th) and the 101st tank brigade.

The tank fleet includes from 200 to 400 old Soviet T-54/55, from 50 to 364 T-62, 22 relatively new T-72, from 12 to 65 light PT-76.

In service there are from 200 to 427 BRDM-2, approximately 250 BMP-1 and BMP-2, as well as up to 250 armored personnel carriers - 48 South African Casspir, 11 relatively new Soviet BTR-80, from 60 to 430 old BTR-60PB, 31 MTLB, up to 50 old Czech OT-62 and 9 several newer OT-64.

Artillery includes 28 self-propelled guns (12 2S1 (122 mm), 4 2S3 (152 mm), 12 2S7 (203 mm)), approximately 450 towed guns (up to 273 D-30 (122 mm), up to 170 M-46 (130 mm ), 4 D-20 (152 mm)), more than 700 mortars (from 250 to 460 82 mm), 500 (120 mm)), more than 100 MLRS (from 50 to 93 Soviet BM-21, 58 Czech RM-70 ( 122 mm)).

There are approximately 500 old Soviet Malyutka ATGMs (including 10 self-propelled ones on the BRDM-2) and up to 40 self-propelled SU-100 anti-tank missile systems from World War II.

The military air defense includes up to 7 divisions of the Kvadrat air defense system, up to 80 short-range air defense systems (up to 29 Strela-1 air defense systems, up to 25 Osa, up to 25 Strela-10), more than 1 thousand MANPADS (up to 1000 “Strela-2”, up to 300 “Strela-3”, 150 “Igla-1”, up to 90 ZSU (up to 40 ZSU-57-2 (57 mm), up to 49 ZSU-23-4 (23 mm) ).

Air Force

Naval forces

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An excerpt characterizing the Angolan Armed Forces

Of all the hounds, 54 dogs were bred, under which 6 people went out as handlers and catchers. In addition to the masters, there were 8 greyhound hunters, who were followed by more than 40 greyhounds, so that with the master's packs about 130 dogs and 20 horse hunters went out into the field.
Each dog knew its owner and name. Each hunter knew his business, place and purpose. As soon as they left the fence, everyone, without noise or conversation, stretched out evenly and calmly along the road and field leading to the Otradnensky forest.
The horses walked across the field as if walking on a fur carpet, occasionally splashing through puddles as they crossed the roads. The foggy sky continued to descend imperceptibly and evenly to the ground; the air was quiet, warm, soundless. From time to time one could hear the whistling of a hunter, the snoring of a horse, the blow of an arapnik, or the yelp of a dog that was not moving in its place.
Having ridden about a mile away, five more horsemen with dogs appeared from the fog towards the Rostov hunt. A fresh, handsome old man with a large gray mustache rode ahead.
“Hello, uncle,” Nikolai said when the old man drove up to him.
“It’s a real march!... I knew it,” said the uncle (he was a distant relative, a poor neighbor of the Rostovs), “I knew that you couldn’t stand it, and it’s good that you’re going.” Pure march! (This was my uncle’s favorite saying.) - Take the order now, otherwise my Girchik reported that the Ilagins are standing in Korniki with pleasure; You have them - pure march! - they will take the brood under your nose.
- That's where I'm going. What, to bring down the flocks? - Nikolai asked, - get out...
The hounds were united into one pack, and uncle and Nikolai rode side by side. Natasha, wrapped in scarves, from under which a lively face with sparkling eyes could be seen, galloped up to them, accompanied by Petya and Mikhaila, a hunter who did not lag behind her, and a guard who was assigned as a nanny for her. Petya laughed at something and beat and pulled his horse. Natasha deftly and confidently sat on her black Arab and with a faithful hand, without effort, reined him in.
Uncle looked disapprovingly at Petya and Natasha. He did not like to combine self-indulgence with the serious business of hunting.
- Hello, uncle, we're on our way! – Petya shouted.
“Hello, hello, but don’t run over the dogs,” the uncle said sternly.
- Nikolenka, what a lovely dog, Trunila! “He recognized me,” Natasha said about her favorite hound dog.
“Trunila, first of all, is not a dog, but a survivor,” thought Nikolai and looked sternly at his sister, trying to make her feel the distance that should have separated them at that moment. Natasha understood this.
“Don’t think, uncle, that we will interfere with anyone,” said Natasha. We will remain in our place and not move.
“And a good thing, countess,” said the uncle. “Just don’t fall off your horse,” he added: “otherwise it’s pure marching!” - there’s nothing to hold on to.
The island of the Otradnensky order was visible about a hundred yards away, and those arriving were approaching it. Rostov, having finally decided with his uncle where to throw the hounds from and showing Natasha a place where she could stand and where nothing could run, set off for a race over the ravine.
“Well, nephew, you’re becoming like a seasoned man,” said the uncle: don’t bother ironing (etching).
“As necessary,” answered Rostov. - Karai, fuit! - he shouted, responding with this call to his uncle’s words. Karai was an old and ugly, brown-haired male, famous for the fact that he single-handedly took on a seasoned wolf. Everyone took their places.
The old count, knowing his son’s hunting ardor, hurried not to be late, and before those who arrived had time to arrive at the place, Ilya Andreich, cheerful, rosy, with trembling cheeks, rode up on his little black ones along the greenery to the hole left for him and, straightening his fur coat and putting on his hunting clothes, shells, climbed onto his smooth, well-fed, peaceful and kind, gray-haired Bethlyanka like him. The horses and droshky were sent away. Count Ilya Andreich, although not a hunter by heart, but who firmly knew the laws of hunting, rode into the edge of the bushes from which he was standing, took apart the reins, adjusted himself in the saddle and, feeling ready, looked back smiling.

Forças Armadas Angolanas Angolan Armed Forces

Country	Angola
Subordination	Angola Ministry of National Defense
Type	Armed forces
Number	90 000
Participation in	Angolan Civil War, Second Congo War, Civil War in the Republic of Congo, Central African Republic Conflict

Story

The date of creation of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Angola is considered to be October 9, 1991 - when, in accordance with the Biese Agreements, the integration of the government People's Armed Forces for the Liberation of Angola (FAPLA) and the Armed Forces for the Liberation of Angola (FALA) of the UNITA rebel movement officially began. Previously, many fighters and commanders of the Angolan National Liberation Army (ELNA), the armed forces of the FNLA movement, entered the service of FAPLA.

General information

Angolan Armed Forces
Types of armed forces:	Angolan ground forces, including the air force; Angolan National Air Force (port. Força Aerea Nacional Angolana, FANA) Angolan Navy (port. Marinha de Guerra Angola, MGA). (as of 2011)
Conscription age and recruitment procedure:	The Armed Forces of Angola are staffed, on the basis of the law on universal conscription, by Angolan citizens aged 20-45 years; term of conscription service - 2 years; voluntary military service is also provided for citizens aged 18-45 years; The Angolan Navy is composed entirely of volunteer contract service; voluntary military service for women aged 20-45 years. (as of 2011)
Human resources available for military service:	men aged 16-49: 3,062,438 women aged 16-49: 2,964,262 (2010 estimate)
Human resources suitable for military service:	men aged 16-49: 1,546,781 women aged 16-49: 1,492,308 (2010 estimate)
Human resources reaching military age annually:	men: 155,476 women: 152,054 (2010 estimate)
Military expenditures - percentage of GDP:	3.6% (as of 2009), 32nd place in the world

According to the constitution, the Supreme Commander-in-Chief is the President of Angola - this post has been held by José Eduardo dos Santos since 1979.

The Minister of Defense of Angola since 2014 is Joao Lourenço, a close associate of dos Santos, who was officially announced as his successor as president.

Since 2010, the General Staff of the Angolan Armed Forces has been headed by Geraldo Sashipengu Nunda, a former UNITA military leader who was the national commissioner of FALA until 1993.

Composition of the armed forces

Ground forces

The tank fleet includes from 200 to 400 old Soviet T-54/55, from 50 to 364 T-62, 22 relatively new T-72, from 12 to 65 light PT-76.

There are approximately 500 old Soviet Malyutka ATGMs (including 10 self-propelled ones on the BRDM-2) and up to 40 self-propelled SU-100 anti-tank missile systems from World War II.

Air Force

Naval forces

Notes

Links

Official page of the Ministry of National Defense of Angola (port.)
Official page of the Angolan Navy (port.)

Aresa PVC-170

PVC-170 is a type of patrol boat built in 2009 by ARESA (Barcelona, Spain) for the Angolan Navy in accordance with the assistance program of the Spanish Fisheries Department. The main purpose is to protect fisheries.

Executive Outcomes

Executive Outcomes (Executive Outcomes, Russian. Predetermined result) - large private military company, founded in South Africa in 1989 by former South African Security Forces Lieutenant Colonel Eben Barlow and existed until 1998.

The company's personnel were mainly former members of the South African Defense Force. Executive outcomes played an important role in several civil wars in Africa. The company is known for helping the Angolan government force UNITA militants to begin negotiations with the authorities, as well as sign the Lusaka Protocol in 1994. EO later became part of the South African company Strategic Resource Corporation. Executive Outcomes became the first legally registered private military company, and pioneered the business of providing private military services both in Africa and abroad.

Angola

Angola (port. Angola), full official form - Republic of Angola (port. República de Angola [ʁɛˈpublikɐ dɨ ɐ̃ˈɡɔlɐ]) is a state in South Africa. A former Portuguese colony, it gained independence in 1975. Member of the UN since December 1, 1976.

Washed from the west Atlantic Ocean, in the south it borders with Namibia, in the northeast and north with the Democratic Republic of the Congo, in the east with Zambia, as well as the Republic of the Congo (Cabinda exclave).

Angola-Zimbabwe relations

Angola-Zimbabwe relations - bilateral diplomatic relations between Angola and Zimbabwe.

Angolan National Liberation Army

The Angolan National Liberation Army (port. Exército de Libertação Nacional de Angola, ELNA) is the military wing of the Angolan national conservative movement FNLA, led by Holden Roberto. She actively participated in the Angolan War of Independence and in the first stage of the Angolan Civil War. It was defeated by MPLA government forces and the Cuban Expeditionary Force in late 1975 and early 1976.

Bicess agreements

Bicesse Agreements (port. Acordos de Bicesse) - an agreement on a ceasefire, national reconciliation and the transition to multi-party democracy, concluded between the government of Angola and the UNITA organization through the mediation of Portugal, the USA and the USSR on May 1, 1991. The culmination of the implementation of the agreements signed in Lisbon was the first general parliamentary and presidential elections in the history of Angola, but UNITA, which lost them, and its leader Jonas Savimbi refused to recognize their results, which soon led to the resumption of the civil war.

Angolan Navy

The Angolan Navy (port. Marinha de Guerra AngolanaMarinha de Guerra Angolana) is part of the Angolan Armed Forces and is called upon to protect the 1,600-kilometer coastline of Angola. The strength of the Angolan Navy is about 1000 people.

Armed Forces for the Liberation of Angola

The Armed Forces for the Liberation of Angola (port. Forças Armadas de Libertação de Angola, FALA) is the military wing of the Angolan rebel movement UNITA, led by Jonas Savimbi. Actively participated in the War of Independence and civil war. Ranked among the most effective partisan movements XX century. After the death of Savimbi, the end of the civil war and the legalization of UNITA, they were demobilized and partially integrated into the Angolan armed forces.

Igla-1

“Igla-1” (GRAU index - 9K310, according to NATO classification - SA-16 Gimlet, from English - “gimlet”) is a Soviet man-portable anti-aircraft missile system, developed and adopted by the USSR Armed Forces in 1981. 9M313 and 9M313-1 anti-aircraft guided missiles are used to fire at air targets. The cost of one missile in a factory-made launch tube approximately corresponded to the cost of a Soviet production passenger car, and therefore, in relation to combat launches of missiles in anti-aircraft missile units of various branches of the military and services, there was a comic expression “shoot a car in the air.”

Carreira, Enrique

Henrique Teles Carreira (port. Henrique Teles Carreira; June 3, 1933, Luanda - May 30, 2000, Madrid), aka Ico Carreira (Ico Carreira) - Angolan military and statesman, politician and diplomat. One of the highest leaders of the MPLA. Active participant in the Angolan War of Independence and Civil War. First Minister of Defense of the NRA in 1975-1980. Subsequently, NRA Ambassador to Algeria, military attaché to Spain.

Castro, Tonta Afonso

Tonta Afonso de Castro (port. Tonta Afonso de Castro; April 2, 1943, São Salvador do Congo) is an Angolan military man, general of the Angolan armed forces, an active participant in the war of independence and civil war. He was one of the leading commanders of ELNA - the army of the FNLA movement. Commanded the ELNA troops at the Battle of Quifangondo. After the military-political defeat, the FNLA went over to the side of the MPLA government.

Lourenço, Juan

João Manuel Gonçalves Lourenço (port. João Manuel Gonçalves Lourenço; March 5, 1954, Lobito, Portuguese West Africa), in the Russian spelling it is also incorrect Joao Lourenco, Joao Lourenco is an Angolan politician and statesman, one of the leaders of the MPLA, the third president of Angola. Active participant in the Angolan civil war. In 1998-2003 - Secretary General of the MPLA. Since 2014 - Minister of Defense of Angola, since 2016 - Vice-Chairman of the MPLA. At the end of 2016, he was announced as the successor to President dos Santos. He was elected President of Angola after the Parliamentary elections on August 23, 2017.

Angolan National Air Force

The Angolan National Air Force (port. Força Aérea Nacional Angolana) is one of the branches of the ground forces of the Republic of Angola.

The Angolan Air Force was created in 1976, after the country's independence from Portugal, as the People's Air Force/Air and Air Defense (port. Força Aérea Popular de Angola/Defesa Aérea e Antiaérea (FAPA/DAA)). In the first decade and a half of their existence, they received significant support from the USSR and Cuba. The Angolan Air Force took part in a protracted civil war that ended in 2002. The Angolan Air Force ranks first in Tropical Africa in terms of the number of combat aircraft, although it is extremely difficult to determine their real combat capability.

Jane's Sentinel Security Assessment - Central Africa

NAVY
NAVY SUMMARY
Assessment
Chain of Command
Organization
Role and Deployment
UN Contributions
Training
Navy Bases
Inventory: Surface Fleet

NAVY SUMMARY TOP

STRENGTH
1,000 (2003 estimate)

Assessment TOP

The navy is considered to be in a state of near total disarray. Nevertheless, riverine operations are critical for the DRC due to the country's extensive system of navigable rivers and poor roads. Indeed, the importance of river transport led the government to withdraw all such vessels from the east of the country ahead of the rebel and foreign armies advance in 1998.

The most often used vessels are civilian or merchant river barges that have been converted to military use. These vessels are often armored and may have machine guns and other heavy weapons mounted upon them. Their most notable actions during the war included the successful relief of Ikela (in association with Zimbabwean special forces) in January 2000, and the disastrous defeat near Libenge on the Ubangi river in August 2000. In the later action an ambush by the rebel Movement for the Liberation of Congo (Mouvement de libération du Congo: MLC) sank one troop carrying barge, and disabled two others. Newspaper accounts reported that some 700 Congolese troops died in the battle, which marked the high point of the government's mid-2000 offensive in Equateur Province.

Zimbabwe Special Forces are thought to have initially trained with Congo"s Lake Command in 1998, enabling many covert missions to occur on Lake Tanganyika in the early stages of the war. Again, it is unclear if Congolese boats or reported but unconfirmed United States supplied /sourced Raiders were used by the Zimbabweans in these missions. Late 2000 reports revealed that a shipment of Zimbabwean manufactured patrol boats were delivered to the Kinshasa-allied Burundian Forces for the Defense of Democracy (Forces pour la defense de démocratie: FDD) by way of Zambian ports on southern lake Tanganyika. Subsequently, a Congolese and Zimbabwean offensive aiming to reopen a corridor to Lake Tanganyika failed in November 2000.

Chain of Command TOP

Under the mid-2003 re-organization of the armed forces, command of the navy was allocated to the former rebel group, the MLC. Chief of the Navy Major-General Dieudonné Amuli Bahigwa was duly appointed in September 2003. His predecessor under the Kabilas, Lieutenant-General Liwanga Maata Nyamunyobo, became armed forces chief of staff at this time. The position of Deputy Chief of Staff of the Navy was to be appointed by the RCD-Goma.

Chain of Command

Organization TOP

All of the 1,000 personnel are believed to be volunteers; of these, 70 are officers and up to 600 are marines.

The Navy was placed under army command by the new government in 1997 but its independence was re-established under the military unification and restructuring plan of 2003. Coastal command is located at Matadi, riverine command at Kinshasa and lake command at Kalémié on Lake Tanganyika. The latter was under rebel control from late-1998.

Role and Deployment TOP

There are three commands: Coastal, Riverine, and Lake. With the informal nature of the fleet since the late 1990s, it is unclear how the few remaining vessels have been allocated between bases and commands.

There are believed to be a few Chinese supplied coast launched HY-2 Silkworm surface to surface missiles, almost certainly non-operational.

UN Contributions TOP

The navy has made no contributions to UN operations. Revised MONUC deployment plans from February 2001 emphasized the importance of safe transit along the DRC"s rivers and lakes for Congolese security by specifying that a 400 strong unit of peacekeepers be delegated for waterborne patrol. Some 240 members of the Uruguayan Navy were subsequently deployed with patrol boat to re-open the River Congo.

Retraining of the Navy is likely to occur alongside the restructuring and training of the unified national armed forces, although it will be of low priority compared to the ground forces. Given the extended period of naval activity, the lack of boats and dearth of expertise by any armed faction in naval operations, the Navy is likely to require virtual recreation from base level.

Theoretically, naval bases are located at:

Boma
Kinshasa (Riverine HQ)
Matadi (Coastal HQ)
The following two bases on Lake Tanganyika were under the control of the RCD-Goma from 1998/99:

Kalémié (former Lake HQ)
Moba
Under these conditions, the Kinshasa government maintained access to Lake Tanganyika only via its FDD garrisoned enclave at Moliro on the Zambian border, which was used to launch infiltration vessels up the lake to Burundi and rebel-occupied South Kivu province.

Inventory: Surface Fleet TOP

Most operations in the Congolese conflict have involved unclassified civilian vessels improvised to serve as attack craft or river transports. These are not listed in the navy"s official inventory.

Type
Role
Quantity
Delivered

Shanghai II Class (136 tons)
Fast Patrol/Attack Craft
n/a
1976-1987

Note:
First four delivered from China in 1976-78. All were thought to be beyond repair by 1985 but two of the four were patched up, two replacements were delivered in February 1987 and one more has been recovered since then. New radar and communications fitted in 1990. P 101 sunk at moorings in mid-1990. No lake patrols were reported after the 1997 Kabila victory. One of these craft reported captured by rebels in 1998 and another two were reported deleted the same year. Any remaining vessels were inoperable by 2000 and are unlikely to be revived in the future.

The fundamental principles of the construction and operation of the Angolan Armed Forces are reflected in the laws “On National Security” and “On National Defense and Armed Forces” of 1993.

As in most African countries, military service in Angola is a prestigious activity that provides the opportunity for a sustainable income and a respected position in society.

After the end of hostilities in March 2002, financial expenditures on defense were significantly reduced (the military department budget in 2004 was about $1 billion). Currently, the main attention of the military leadership is focused on finding potential partners who can provide assistance on preferential terms in restoring the combat readiness of weapons and military equipment (WME) located in units and subunits, as well as improving the repair base of the armed forces.

The Angolan armed forces consist of three branches: the ground forces (ground forces), the air force (air force) and the navy (navy). The total number of personnel of the Armed Forces is 112.4 thousand people, including: Ground Forces - 97.9 thousand, Air Force - 8.8 thousand and Navy - 5.7 thousand.

Ground forces are the main and most numerous type of armed forces. Administratively, they are subordinate to the Minister of Defense, and operationally, to the Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces. This type is directly supervised by the commander (General Mateus Miguel Angelo), who is also the chief of staff of the ground forces.

The Ground Forces headquarters, the central control body of this type of armed forces, carries out the operational management of the Ground Forces in wartime, as well as planning combat training and organizing the daily activities of units and subunits in peacetime (see the diagram for the organizational structure of the Ground Forces headquarters).

The issues of recruiting the ground forces, serving in them by various categories of military personnel, their status and social status, as well as the procedure for providing various types of allowances are enshrined in a number of state regulations. These include the laws “On Military Service” (No. 1/93 of March 26, 1993) and “On Pensions,” as well as a number of other additional legislative acts and regulations relating to military service issues.

Citizens are called up for military service for a period of two years, and volunteers are also recruited on short-term (16-24 months) and long-term (three to five years) contracts.

Recruitment of regular officers is carried out, as a rule, by graduates of the officer school (Lobito), as well as reserve officers and those who graduated from the A. Neto University (Luanda) and decided to connect their lives with the army. Most of them are sent to serve in infantry and motorized infantry units. Graduates of the school occupy positions up to and including company commander, and as they advance in their careers, they can be awarded the military rank up to and including captain. Students study at the school for two years. During the first year, cadets receive the basics of military knowledge and skills necessary for a squad and platoon commander. After this, they are awarded the military rank of “graduate student” and are sent for an internship with the troops (for four to six months, depending on their specialization). Then, for the remaining time, future officers are trained to manage units up to and including the company. According to the curriculum, about 50 percent. time is allocated to the study of military disciplines, up to 40 percent. - for general education subjects and 10 percent. - for physical training.

The operational and combat training of headquarters, units and subunits as a whole is at a satisfactory level, allowing them to solve the tasks assigned to the ground forces and the armed forces as a whole. At the same time, there are no noticeable qualitative changes in the organization of the educational process; officials do not pay due attention to working out practical issues. Insufficient funding and poor logistics support for troops, as well as the lack of necessary experience among many commanders, often lead to the disruption of planned events and the postponement of their implementation.

Recently, the following events have been carried out in SV:

training and methodological gatherings at the Army headquarters with the heads of operational directorates and combat training departments on planning and organizing operational and combat training; in military districts (MD) - with commanders of formations and units, heads of combat training departments of military districts, battalion commanders on the methods of organizing and conducting classes with a platoon, company, battalion in the main subjects of training;
demonstration separate staff training with the operational control of the ground forces headquarters, separate staff training in the directorates of the ground forces headquarters;
command post exercises with 5 military units;
joint staff training with the Army headquarters;
demonstration exercises for conducting company tactical live-fire exercises and platoon live-fire exercises.

In addition, ground forces units participated in the Felino 2004 exercise within the Community of Portuguese-speaking Countries.

An analysis of the activities carried out shows that the leadership of the Armed Forces managed to achieve the desired result in operational and combat training, and the process of improving the training and material base is underway. The level of methodological and professional skill of officers, interaction between command and control bodies and troops has increased significantly, but it still does not allow for a full, high-quality solution to issues related to operational and combat training.

Negotiations on cooperation in the field of military education with the Russian Federation, Portugal, Spain, Brazil, Cuba, Israel, China, and South Africa are yielding certain positive results. Angolan military personnel will be able to receive education not only abroad, but also at home thanks to the help of foreign military specialists.

The country's difficult economic situation and lack of financial resources are forcing the Angolan government to turn to foreign partners for help, including Russia and the CIS countries.

The overwhelming majority of the personnel of the Angolan Armed Forces are loyal to the ruling regime, which is primarily due to the high social status of military personnel and the wide range of benefits they have.

When deciding on the issue of reducing the number of personnel, the General Staff proceeds from the fact that insufficiently competent commanders and superiors, as well as persons whose loyalty to the current Supreme Commander is in doubt, should be dismissed from the ranks of the armed forces first. According to the RA military leadership, these organizational measures should not negatively affect the level of combat readiness of the troops.

In general, at present, the Angolan armed forces in general and the ground forces in particular, given their low level of equipment with modern weapons and military equipment, are able to carry out the tasks facing them only to a limited extent. Western experts associate further improvement of the armed forces with foreign military assistance.

Colonel A. Bandaletov

"Foreign military review» No. 11 2005