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Angola Air and Air Defense Force
The People's Air and Air Defense Force of Angola (Força
Aérea
Popular de Angola/Defesa Aérea y Antiaérea--FAPA/DAA),
officially
established on January 21, 1976, was the largest air force
in subSaharan Africa. Colonel Alberto Correia Neto became vice
minister
of defense and FAPA/DAA commander in September 1986. He
succeeded
Colonel Carreira, who had held that post since 1983. The
7,000-
member FAPA/DAA included about 180 fixed-wing combat
attack and
interceptor aircraft; an equal number of helicopters;
several
maritime patrol, reconnaissance, trainer, and transport
aircraft;
five air defense battalions; and ten SAM battalions (see
table 13,
Appendix A). Seeking voluntary enlistment was initially
the sole
form of recruitment, but in the 1980s conscription was
increasingly
employed until volunteerism was restored in 1988.
Angola's army had about fifteen years to develop an
organization and gain combat experience prior to
independence. In
contrast, FAPA/DAA had to acquire personnel, experience,
and
equipment immediately, and in the context of a civil war.
These
unusual circumstances affected both recruitment and force
development. FAPA/DAA's pilots, mostly in their
mid-twenties, got
combat experience immediately. Moreover, given FAPA/DAA's
virtually
instantaneous creation, its long-term dependence on
external
assistance was inevitable. Soviet, Cuban, and other
communist
forces provided pilots and technicians to fly and maintain
FAPA/DAA's growing, diversified, and increasingly complex
air
fleet. The principal tasks of this new branch of the
Angolan
military were to protect the capital, guard major cities
and
military installations in the south against South African
air
raids, and extend the air defense network and combat
operations
southward to confront UNITA forces and South African
invaders.
According to a 1987 press report, FAPA/DAA was
reorganized into
three regiments: a fighter-bomber regiment headquartered
in
Lubango, a transport regiment in Luanda, and a helicopter
regiment
in Huambo. In addition, FAPA/DAA aircraft and air defense
units
were deployed in strategic locations throughout the
country. Of
Angola's 229 usable airfields, 25 had permanent-surface
runways, 13
of which exceeded 2,440 meters.
The capabilities and effectiveness of FAPA/DAA have
increased
markedly following its creation. FAPA/DAA's expanded
capacity to
provide air cover and supply to forward ground forces,
strike at
UNITA bases and interdict South African aircraft, evacuate
wounded
personnel, and perform reconnaissance and liaison missions
became
particularly apparent during combined offensives after
1985. Like
the army, FAPA/DAA developed modern facilities to repair
and
service both military and civilian aircraft for Angola and
other
African states.
Data as of February 1989
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