Angola

Republic of Angola

The nation today known as the Republic of Angola (República de Angola) was originally inhabited by Khoisan-speaking hunter gatherers who were later largely displaced by Bantu-speaking tribes. Known today as "bushmen," the descendants of these indigenous people inhabit only a small percentage of the land comprising the present nation. The BaKongo dominated the region with their superior knowledge of metallurgy, ceramics and agriculture, establishing trade with civilizations along the coast of western Africa, until the arrival of the Portuguese in the 15th century. Several independent states had been established by then, including Kongo, Ndongo, and Luanda, with which the Portuguese gladly established diplomatic and trade relationships. By the end of the 15th century, however, the Portuguese began establishing permanent forts, settlements and trading posts, from which they exported slaves and raw materials in increasingly higher numbers. Many of these slaves ended up in what is now Brazil to work the thriving Portuguese plantations there.

Portuguese control over the coastal region gradually increased thanks to its military superiority, with Angola becoming a colony by the late 16th century. The interior remained largely ungoverned, however, until the Berlin Conference of 1885, which established the colony's borders and permitted development of mining, agriculture and railways. It would take another century before full administrative control was achieved. In 1951, the region was declared the Overseas Province of Angola, yet by this time the wave of African nationalism was already taking root in certain parts of the continent and was begining to spread to Angola.

In 1961, prompted by Portuguese refusal to negotiate terms for Angolan independence, a series of attacks against white and black citizens in the north would shortly bring the nation into full civil war. Three distinct movements emerged, all aiming towards a free and independent Angola; these were the MPLA (Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola) founded in 1956, the FNLA (National Front for the Liberation of Angola) founded in 1961, and UNITA (National Union for the Total Independence of Angola) founded in 1966. Following the 1974 coup d'etat in Lisbon which ousted the Portuguese military dictatorship and replaced it with a much more liberal democracy, Portugal's interest in keeping Angola as a colonial possession rapidly waned. Thus on 11 November 1975 Angola was granted full independence, while the leaders of the three revolutionary movements were faced with the challenge of how to organize and run their country without the Portuguese infrastructure.

Nationalists in the Cabinda region of Angola began organizing for independence from Portugal in the early 1960s, agreeing to come together into the Frente para a Libertação do Enclave de Cabinda (Front for the Liberation of the Enclave of Cabinda) or FLEC in 1963. Following independence, the alliance began dissolving into several factions, including the Military Command for the Liberation of Cabinda in 1977, and the Movimento Popular de Libertação de Cabinda (MPLC) in 1979. UNITA rendered some assistance to FLEC in the 1980s, as did Zaire. FLEC remains politically committed to an independent Cabinda, but the majority of their activity has been political in recent decades rather than military.

A transitional government was established in January 1975, but it was very short-lived, and soon the nation again found itself embroiled in another civil war. As the FNLA and UNITA forged a shaky alliance against the MPLA, the Soviet Union and Cuba channeled increasing military assistance to the Forças Armadas Populares de Libertação de Angola or FAPLA (the armed wing of the MPLA), aid that would continue well into the 1990s. The United States initially countered by supporting Daniel Chipenda's FNLA, with South Africa offering its support to both the FNLA and Jonas Savimbi's UNITA. This overt military support, however, was short-lived, with US aid ending in December of that year and the South African Defence Force leaving the country in February 1976. Yet as many as 11,000 Cuban "advisors" remained in Angola, along with a number of Soviet military personnel and a large assortment of war materiel. The MPLA became the de facto government of the nation, with UNITA and the FNLA continuing an insurgency campaign against the FAPLA. Although they would continue to receive covert support from several nations, including the United States, South Africa, and Zaire, the FNLA eventually capitulated, leaving UNITA to continue waging its war against FAPLA. Many FNLA personnel would later be transformed into 32 Battalion of the SADF, a Portuguese-speaking special operations unit with a fierce reputation and more cross-border combat experience than any other unit of the SADF. As for UNITA, when its leader, Jonas Savimbi, was killed during combat operations in February 2002, the group negotiated a cease fire shortly thereafter and by August of that year had given up the armed struggle, declaring its intent to focus on political means of change. Approximately 4.28 million people were displaced over the course of the 27 year Angolan Civil War, with as many as 500,000 people killed.

With a total strength of about 110,000 personnel, the Angolan Armed Forces (FAA) consist of three divisions: the Army (Exército), Navy (Marinha de Guerra), and Air Force (Força Aérea Nacional). The FAA maintain strong connections to their Portuguese roots, employing many original or slightly modified military accoutrements of the old regime, including some camouflage designs. Law enforcement and internal security is the responsibility of the Polícia Nacional (PN) or National Police, a paramilitary entity of the Ministry of the Interior.

Angolan Camouflage Patterns

• Originally introduced for service with units serving in Africa, the m63 "vertical lizard" camouflage pattern was worn by Portuguese units throughout the Angolan War for Independence. Remaining stocks ended up in the hands of FAPLA, UNITA, and the FNLA, when they were liberated from supply houses after Portuguese military personnel abandoned the country.

• When Cuban forces began to arrive in the 1970s, they were oufitted with a unique "grey lizard" camouflage design. These uniforms, made originally in Cuba, were later produced specifically for FAPLA (and marked appropriately). Later models with darker colors were fabricated for export to Angola in South Korea. The pattern seems to have fallen into disuse with the FAA in the late 1990s. It is interesting to note that other Eastern Bloc countries that sent advisors to Angola, particularly Russian personnel, were also issued this pattern.

• An interesting Chinese-made pattern incorporating swirling black, brown & green amoebic shapes on pale green background was also produced for the FAA at some point during the 1990s. Several fabric weights have been documented, as well as a few different uniform styles such as the French F1, although not the Chinese-style uniforms which were worn by ANC insurgents operating in South Africa. This "swirl" design would disappear for a number of years, but must have been reintroduced in the early 2000s as we have examples of FAA-labeled uniforms and some photographs of the pattern still being worn at that time.

• When the South African-based company Executive Outcomes (EO) became involved in training and equipping the FAA in the 1990s, they introduced a number of camouflage uniforms that were dispersed among various Angolan units. One design that saw use with the FAA at this time was a variation of British DPM pattern, cut in a French M1964 (F1) style uniform. This early DPM seen in Angola has a distinctive yellowish-tan base color, with the remainder of the color palette resembling those more traditionally found in the British design. DPM pattern camouflage was reintroduced for some units in the FAA as recently as the 2020s, although with color palette and drawings considerably different from this one.

• Another camouflage design associated with the early work of Executive Outcomes (EO) trainers, and certainly supplied by them, is a variation of the French tenue leopard produced in Asia. Although similar to original French "lizard" designs, this version does not copy any shapes directly and retains a fairly consistent color palette. Uniforms in this pattern were mass-produced and sold on commercial markets in the early 1990s, and were certainly worn by units in Sierra Leone and also by EO trainers in Angola. We can presume such uniforms also made it to Angolan armed forces personnel, although to what extent is not well documented. Nevertheless, FAA-marked uniforms in this pattern from the early 2000s are also known to exist, so we can deduct from this at least a minimal use by the FAA of this camouflage design.

• It was also in the 1990s that variations of m81 woodland camouflage began to appear in use with the FAA, again in several uniform cuts and most likely produced by Asian companies for export. In the present era, although Angolan forces continue to wear a wide variety of camouflage patterns, the Angolan woodland pattern can be considered the "standard" combat design of the FAA.

• This unusual woodland variant, with a pale lime-green base color, appears to have been initially introduced the late 1990s or early. Variations of the pattern have continued to be seen in the FAA right up into the present era.

• Additional woodland patterns from the 2000s retain the distinctive lime green base color, but appear to have shapes in the design not found in the original m81 woodland drawings. The color palette remains similar to those previously encountered, although the brown has a much more reddish tone, and the green is often a bit more vibrant (when not faded).

• Although there are photographs of the Fuzileiros Navais or Naval Infantry wearing woodland camouflage in the 1990s, it appears the unit as a whole never discarded its use of the old Portuguese m63 vertical lizard design. Modern versions have slightly updated colorways and uniform styling, but the Portuguese tradition has nevertheless been retained by this one Angolan unit.

• Although it seems to have fallen into disuse for a period of time, one or more versions of DPM were re-introduced for the FAA at some point in the early 2000s and have continued to appear in use by some units right into the present era. This updated version of DPM in fact seems to have a reduced size from the original by as much as 50%, with some disruptive shapes being completely unique and much smaller, giving it an overall more dense appearance. Additionally, modern Angolan DPM has a modified color palette: the usual black and brown disruptive shapes, but with olive green replacing forest green and the base color being more of a pale lime green.

• A second version of DPM for Angola retains a more traditional British color palette, but incorporates a completely different set of shapes in the design. This version does not seem to have been worn as often, and may have been simply a short run.

• Circa 2014, Angolan airborne and special operations personnel adopted an Asian-produced copy of Multicam camouflage in an updated uniform cut. This pattern has been widely worn by the Commandos, Operações Especiais (Special Operations), Paratroopers, and even the Naval Infantry, although the Army and Air Force personnel continue to utilize the standard woodland pattern as well, and the Naval Infantry their favored version of the Portuguese m63.

• Historically, units of the Polícia Nacional have worn solid color uniforms, either midnight blue or - in the case of the Border Guard Police - a mint green. However, the various Unidade de Reacção e Patrulhamento (URP), or Reaction and Patrol Units, have their own camouflage operational uniform. Inspired by woodland, the pattern incorporates black and midnight blue shapes on a pale blue background.

Camouflage of Insurgent Units in Angola

• During the war for independence, MPLA (FAPLA) units were initially outfitted with uniforms from Eastern European sources, including both the Flächentarn (first seen in 1967) and the the Strichtarn (rain) patterns produced in East Germany. These suits gradually fell into disuse as they were replaced by Cuban models.

• Also observed circa 1967, some MPLA were provided with surplus Czechoslovakian mrácky ("clouds") pattern uniforms. Photographic evidence suggests only the tan/grey side was worn out. Owing to scant documentation, we can conclude the use of these uniforms was minimal.

• A series of photographs from 1975 illustrates a number of FAPLA units wearing duck hunter patterned camouflage suits of Korean manufacture, which were most likely sourced commercially.

• Documentation of UNITA troops shows they did receive some surplus Rhodesian camouflage uniforms. However, the stocks must have been used up rapidly, as their appearance on combat personnel seems to have been extremely limited.

• UNITA officers occasionally appeared wearing the French lizard pattern, although most accounts indicate its use was generally for public image rather than combat & concealment value.

• During the 1970s, the Frente para a Libertação do Enclave de Cabinda (FLEC) militants received considerably assistance from neighboring Zaire, probably due to its close proximity and historical/cultural ties. A supply of Zairean camouflage uniforms in the jigsaw pattern made their way to FLEC circa 1975.