The BTR-152 was a significant, though often vulnerable, piece of military hardware in the Angolan and Mozambican Civil Wars, primarily used by the Soviet-backed government forces of the MPLA and FRELIMO, respectively.
Angola
In Angola, the BTR-152 was a standard piece of equipment for the People’s Armed Forces of Liberation of Angola (FAPLA), the military wing of the MPLA government.
- Primary Role: It served as the main armored personnel carrier for FAPLA’s motorized infantry battalions and was often deployed alongside T-34 and T-55 tanks.
- Vulnerability: The BTR-152 had significant limitations in the terrain and nature of the Angolan conflict. Soviet advisors often directed FAPLA to use armored columns in dense bush without proper infantry support, where the low profile of the vehicles (especially when compared to South African Ratels) and the open-topped design made them vulnerable to ambushes, anti-tank weapons (like RPG-7s), and land mines.
- Key Engagements: BTR-152s were notably present during major SADF incursions. During the Battle of Cassinga in 1978, South African paratroopers and air strikes successfully destroyed or disabled several BTR-152s from a Cuban mechanized battalion, highlighting their vulnerability to concentrated attack.
- Captured Equipment: The South African Defence Force (SADF) captured numerous BTR-152s during cross-border operations (such as Operation Protea), which were either put into limited service by the Rhodesian Army or sent to military depots and museums in South Africa.
Mozambique
In Mozambique, the BTR-152 was utilized by the People’s Forces of Liberation of Mozambique (FPLM), the armed wing of the FRELIMO government, against the Rhodesian- and South African-backed RENAMO rebels.
- Initial Deployment: The Soviet Union provided an initial donation of six BTR-152s shortly after Mozambique’s independence in the mid-1970s.
- Tactical Use and Losses: These vehicles were deployed for search and destroy operations against RENAMO strongholds and to counter cross-border raids by Rhodesian security forces. Similar to Angola, the BTR-152s in Mozambique suffered heavy losses. It is believed that many, if not all, of the initial batch were quickly lost to land mines and Rhodesian air strikes due to the vehicle’s limitations.
- Subsequent Deliveries: A second shipment of BTR-152s arrived in 1983, but it is unclear if these were widely used in front-line combat, as FRELIMO began receiving the more robust and amphibious BTR-60 APCs around that time.
- Current Status: While their active combat service was relatively short-lived due to their high attrition rate, some BTR-152s may remain in the Mozambican inventory as reserve or non-frontline assets