The Ural-375 is a highly capable Soviet-designed 4.5-ton 6×6 multi-purpose military truck that saw widespread tactical deployment in Angola. It served as a primary heavy logistics and weapons platform during the Angolan Civil War and subsequent regional conflicts....
The following account narrates the downing of a Cuban helicopter with 15 people on board, commanded by pilot Emilio González Rivas, on May 17, 1978, Negage, in a confrontation with the FNLA. Commanding a pair of Mi-8 helicopters, we arrived in the afternoon at the...
As was customary for all operations, Captain Tomás held a meeting with the Lieutenants to plan the details of this operation.The order came from Sector A Command in Vila Cabral, via B.Caç.2853 in Macaloge, on which we were operationally dependent. The operational...
During the Portuguese Colonial War (1961–1974), Aeródromo Base N.º 7 (AB7) was a primary sector airbase located in the Matundo/Chingodzi region of Tete, Mozambique (3rd Aerial Region) and a critical operational hub. It directly supported anti-guerrilla actions, border...
Aerodrome-Base No. 6 (AB6), historically known as Aeródromo-Base Nº 6, is a military airfield of the Portuguese Air Force. Located in Nova Freixo (now Cuamba), Mozambique, during its operational era as a overseas base. According to colonial air force doctrine, "Base...
The military facility historically known as Aeródromo-Base Nº 5 (AB5) in Nacala, Mozambique, played a vital role for the Portuguese Air Force during the Portuguese Colonial War (Guerra do Ultramar). During its peak military deployment as Aeródromo-Base Nº 5 (AB5)...
Aeródromo de Manobra Nº 71 (AM71), located near Chitima and Estima in the Tete Province, was a purpose-built tactical airbase designed to counter a specific strategic threat: FRELIMO's campaign to sabotage the construction of the massive Cahora Bassa Dam. As...
Aeródromo de Manobra Nº 51 (AM51), situated on the high plateau of Mueda in the northern Cabo Delgado province, was arguably the most critical, heavily fortified, and dangerous forward airbase operated by the Portuguese Air Force (Força Aérea Portuguesa -...
Base Aérea Nº 10 (BA10) was established in February 1961 next to the strategic port city of Beira. It served as the operational heart and command centre for Air Region 3 (ZA3) during the Portuguese Colonial War. Because Beira occupied a central location in Mozambique,...
Base Aérea Nº 8 (BA8), co-located with the civilian Mavalane Airport (now Maputo International Airport), served as the primary strategic and logistics command hub for the Portuguese Air Force (Força Aérea Portuguesa - FAP) in southern Mozambique. Because it was...
André Matade Matsangaissa (1950 – October 17, 1979) was a Mozambican rebel leader and the founder and first president of the Mozambican National Resistance (RENAMO). Born in Gorongosa, Mozambique, Matsangaissa joined FRELIMO in 1972, and after FRELIMO's victory in...
The GAZ-66 truck was extensively used in Angola and Mozambique, primarily by the Soviet-backed liberation movements and later the national armies (MPLA in Angola, FRELIMO in Mozambique) during their respective wars of independence and subsequent civil wars. The...
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...
The Aérospatiale Alouette III was a pivotal and versatile light utility helicopter in the Rhodesian, South African, and Portuguese Air Forces during the various Southern African conflicts, particularly the Portuguese Colonial War and the Border War (or Bush War). It...
One of the last modern conflicts which saw the extensive combat deployment of the T-34-85 was the Angolan Civil War. In 1975, the Soviet Union shipped eighty T-34-85s to Angola as part of its support for the ongoing Cuban military intervention there. Cuban crewmen...