Armed forces of Angola today. Ground Forces of the Republic of Angola. New phase of military procurement

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

Story

General information

Composition of the armed forces

Ground troops

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

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

In service is 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 "Kasspir", 11 relatively new Soviet BTR-80, from 60 to 430 old BTR-60PB, 31 MTLBs, up to 50 old Czech OT-62s and 9 slightly newer OT-64s.

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 ATGMs "Malyutka" (including 10 self-propelled on the BRDM-2) and up to 40 self-propelled anti-tank guns SU-100 from the Second World War.

As part of military air defense there are 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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But soon, after some six months, good news came to them - mom was pregnant again ... Dad was frightened at first, but seeing that mom suddenly began to revive very quickly, he decided to take risks, and now everyone is looking forward to they were expecting a second child... This time they were very careful, and tried in every possible way to protect their mother from any unwanted accidents. But, unfortunately, trouble, apparently for some reason, fell in love with this hospitable door ... And she knocked again ...
With fright, knowing sad story mother’s first pregnancy, and fearing that something would go “wrong” again, the doctors decided to do “ C-section before the contractions start (!). And apparently they did it too early ... One way or another, a girl was born, who was named Marianna. But, unfortunately, she also managed to live for a very short time - after three days this fragile, slightly blossoming life, for no one known reasons interrupted...
There was a terrible impression that someone really did not want her mother to give birth at all ... And although by nature and genetics she was a strong and absolutely suitable woman for childbearing, she was already afraid to even think about repeating such a cruel attempt once at all...
But man is a creature, surprisingly strong, and is able to endure much more than he himself could ever imagine ... Well, pain, even the most terrible, (if it does not immediately break the heart) is once visible blunted, supplanted, eternally living in each of us, hope. That is why, exactly one year later, very easily and without any complications, in the early December morning, another daughter was born to the Seryogin family, and I turned out to be this happy daughter ... But ... and this birth would certainly have ended differently happily, if everything continued to happen according to the pre-prepared plan of our “compassionate” doctors ... On a cold December morning, my mother was taken to the hospital, even before she had contractions, in order, again, to “be sure” that “ nothing bad will happen (!!!) ... Dad, wildly nervous from "bad feelings", rushed back and forth along the long hospital corridor, unable to calm down, because he knew that, according to their common agreement, mom did such try in last time and if something happens to the child this time too, it means that they will never be destined to see their children ... The decision was difficult, but dad preferred to see, if not children, then at least his beloved "star" alive, and not to bury his whole family at once, even without really understanding what it really means - his family ...

Armed Forces of Angola(port. Forças Armadas Angolanas, FAA listen)) is a military organization of the Republic of Angola, designed to protect the freedom, independence and territorial integrity of the state. Consist of ground forces, air force and navy.

Story

General information

Composition of the armed forces

Ground troops

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

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

In service is 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 "Kasspir", 11 relatively new Soviet BTR-80, from 60 to 430 old BTR-60PB, 31 MTLBs, up to 50 old Czech OT-62s and 9 slightly newer OT-64s.

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 ATGMs "Malyutka" (including 10 self-propelled on the BRDM-2) and up to 40 self-propelled anti-tank guns SU-100 from the Second World War.

As part of the military air defense, there are 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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Armed forces of the countries of the world

Armed Forces of Angola

Thanks to its large territory and huge reserves of minerals, including oil and diamonds, Angola is potentially one of the richest countries. Tropical Africa. At the same time, in the 70s - 80s. she was one of the closest allies of the USSR, having received from him a huge amount of military equipment. In 1975-2002, the most difficult Civil War, and in 1975-1988 there was also a war against South Africa (in which Cuban troops fought on the side of Angola). Despite very heavy losses and destruction, in the end, the government forces of the country won both wars. At present, Angola has maintained special relations with Russia, from where it continues to receive fairly modern military equipment. A certain number of weapons are also purchased in Europe and Brazil.

Due to significant losses during the wars, the development of a resource and poor operation, the number of combat-ready equipment in the Angolan Armed Forces is known very approximately. But in any case, the Angolan army is one of the five strongest in Tropical Africa.

Ground troops divided into five military regions.

The district in the enclave of Cabinda includes the 1st infantry division(it includes the 10th motorized infantry, 11th and 12th infantry brigades).

Northern Military District (headquarters in Uige) includes the 2nd Infantry Division (20th Motorized Infantry, 21st, 22nd Infantry Brigades), 42nd and 52nd Infantry, 62nd, 70th, 71st th motorized infantry brigades.

The Central Military District (Huambo) includes the 4th Infantry Division (40th Infantry, 41st Motorized Infantry Brigade), 74th Motorized Infantry Brigade.

Eastern Military District (Luena) includes the 3rd Infantry Division (30th Motorized Infantry, 31st, 32nd Infantry Brigades), 72nd Motorized Infantry, 75th Infantry Brigades.

The Southern Military District (Lubango) includes the 5th (50th motorized infantry, 51st infantry brigades) and 6th (60th, 61st infantry brigades) infantry divisions.

There is also a separate 101st tank brigade and an artillery brigade (both in Luanda).

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

In service is 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 "Kasspir", 11 relatively new Soviet BTR-80, from 60 to 430 old BTR-60PB, 31 MTLBs, up to 50 old Czech OT-62s and 9 slightly newer OT-64s, 5 Chinese WZ-551s.

Artillery includes 50 self-propelled guns (12 2S1 (122 mm), 4 2S3 (152 mm), 34 2S7 (203 mm)), approximately 500 towed guns (up to 277 D-30 (122 mm), up to 170 M-46 (130 mm ), 40 D-20 (152 mm)), more than 700 mortars (from 250 to 460 82 mm), 500 (120 mm)), more than 100 MLRS (from 50 to 101 Soviet BM-21, 58 Czech RM-70 ( 122 mm)).

There are about 500 old Soviet Malyutka ATGMs (including 10 self-propelled anti-tank systems on the BRDM-2), up to 40 SU-100 self-propelled anti-tank guns from the Second World War and 10 Chinese self-propelled anti-tank guns PTL-02 (100 mm).

As part of the military air defense, there are 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 occupy first place in Tropical Africa in terms of the number of combat aircraft, although it is extremely difficult to determine their real combat capability.

In organizational terms, the Angolan Air Force includes six air regiments: the 21st transport helicopters (deployed at the Luena VVB), the 22nd combat helicopters (Huambo), the 23rd transport aircraft (Luanda), the 24th training (Menonge), the 25th fighter (Kuito), 26th strike aviation(Mosamedish).

Attack aviation includes 6 fairly modern Brazilian light attack aircraft A-29 (aka EMB-314) and up to 37 old Soviet Su-20 and Su-22 (including 2 Su-22UM, 1 more in storage). In addition, 1 Su-24 bomber and up to 13 Su-25 attack aircraft are in storage.

The fighter aviation has up to 12 old MiG-23s (up to 6 ML, up to 6 UB; another 3-5 ML in storage) and up to 7 relatively new Su-27s (including up to 3 UB), 12 modern Su -30K. In addition, up to 25 obsolete MiG-21s (9 bis, 3 PFM, 7 MF, 6 UM) are in storage.

There are 3 reconnaissance aircraft in storage (1 An-30, 2 EMB-110).

Transport aviation is very diverse in its composition. It includes 6 Soviet Il-76TDs, 1 Yak-40, up to 2 An-26s (up to 2 more in storage), up to 8 An-12s (another 5-6 in storage), 5-7 Ukrainian An-32s (another 4 in storage), 10 An-72s (1 more in storage), 1 An-74, 2 Canadian DHC-8s, 1 Brazilian ERJ-135, 2 Spanish C-212s (up to 3 more in storage), 1 German Do-28D , 9-11 American Cessna-172, 1 Cessna-501, 1 Beach-B60 and 1 L-100, up to 6 British BN-2A (up to 4 more in storage). 3 American Boeing 707s and 1 Soviet An-24 are in storage.

Training aircraft - up to 14 Swiss PC-7 and up to 4 PC-9, up to 14 Brazilian EMB-312 (1 more in storage), up to 10 Czechoslovak L-29, 3 L-39, 4 Z-142.

The Air Force has up to 29 Soviet and Russian combat helicopters Mi-24/25/35 (up to 21 more, possibly in storage), up to 8 French SA342M and up to 6 AS565UA. Multi-purpose and transport helicopters - up to 40 Soviet Mi-8 and Russian Mi-17 (5 more in storage), 8 American Bell-212 (UH-1N), up to 49 French SA316 and similar Romanian IAR316, 4 AS365N (in aviation police; 2 more in storage), 4 Italian AW139s and 2 A-109s.

Ground air defense includes 7 divisions of the old Soviet S-75 air defense system (42 launchers) and up to 24 S-125 air defense divisions (up to 96 launchers).

Navy and naval forces ministries Agriculture and fisheries have in their composition 5 Soviet missile boats pr. 205 and 6 torpedo boats project 206, 3 Dutch-built patrol ships (2 Ngola Kiluange type (Damen-6210), 1 Damen-2810 type), up to 30 patrol boats (1 Soviet project 1400, 4 Mandume type ( Spanish type "Kormoran"), 5 types PVC-170, 3 types "Patruleiro", 2 types "Namacurra" (South African), 4 types "Argos" (Portuguese), 5 types "Matadi" and "Santana"), 2 Soviet minesweeper pr. 1258 and 3 DK pr. 771. In reality, everything Soviet ships and the boats and the Portuguese "Argos" are not combat-ready and are in the sludge. The patrol ships and patrol boats in service carry almost no weapons, so the combat potential of the Angolan Navy is close to zero.

There are no foreign troops on the territory of Angola, while its army regularly participates in hostilities in other African countries.

Despite a significant amount of obsolete equipment and a mediocre level of combat training of personnel, by the standards of Tropical Africa, the potential of the Armed Forces of Angola (taking into account the presence of a significant combat experience) is very high, allowing the country to claim the role of a regional superpower.

Alexander Khramchikhin,

Deputy Director

Institute of Political and Military Analysis

The military-political leadership (MPD) 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 pillar 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, is doing everything necessary measures to keep them up and running.

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 President of the Republic (J. E. dos Santos) is the supreme commander of the armed forces. They are directly supervised by the Minister of Defense (General K. Payama), operational command and control of the troops is entrusted to the chief general staff(Army General A.F. Nelumba).

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

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

After the end of hostilities in March 2002, financial spending on defense was significantly reduced (the budget of the military department in 2004 amounted to about $1 billion). At present, the main attention of the military leadership is focused on the search for potential partners who can provide assistance on preferential terms in matters of restoring the combat readiness of weapons and military equipment(WME) located in units and subdivisions, as well as improving the repair base of types of aircraft.

The Angolan armed forces consist of three types: ground forces (SV), air force(Air Force) and naval forces(Navy). The total number of personnel of the Armed Forces is 112.4 thousand people, including: SV - 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. In administrative terms, they are subordinate to the Minister of Defense, and operationally - to the Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces. The commander (General Mateus Miguel Angelo), who is also the chief of staff of the ground forces, is directly in charge of this type.

The headquarters of the SV - the central control body of this type of armed forces - carries out the operational management of the SV in war time, as well as the planning of combat training and the organization daily activities units and divisions in peaceful ( organizational structure headquarters of the SV, see the diagram).

According to the Angolan military leadership, the ground forces are independent view armed forces and are intended for combat operations on land. In terms of their combat capabilities, they are capable, both independently and in cooperation with other branches of the Armed Forces, of conducting an offensive with the aim of defeating enemy troops and capturing its territory, inflicting fire strikes to the operational depth, repelling enemy incursions, including combating its air and sea landings.

In wartime, the NE is entrusted with the following tasks: protection of the national territory and population; repelling the enemy invasion, inflicting maximum damage on him with the available forces and means; carrying out retaliatory strikes in order to restore the situation along the state border; pursuit of the enemy outside the national territory until his complete defeat.

In peacetime, the primary functions of the ground forces are: protecting the national territory from external and internal threats; participation in the restoration of the country's infrastructure and the demining of its own territory; participation in peacekeeping peacekeeping operations within the framework of international organizations; participation in the elimination of the consequences of natural disasters.

At present, 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 aircraft 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 weapon, 334 armored fighting vehicles.

Issues of recruiting ground forces, serving in them various categories 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 to military service for a period of two years, as well as the recruitment of volunteers under short-term (16-24 months) and long-term (three to five years) contracts.

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

Article 2 of the law "On the passage of military service" states that universal military service is established in Angola. According to the country's constitution, the protection of the national sovereignty and territorial integrity of the republic is a sacred duty and an honorable duty of every Angolan citizen.

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

As a rule, recruitment of officer personnel is carried out at the expense of graduates of the officer school (Lobito), as well as reserve officers and those who graduated from 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. School graduates hold positions up to and including the company commander, and as they advance in the service, they may be awarded military rank up to the captain (inclusive) The school trains for two years. During the first, cadets receive the basics of military knowledge and skills necessary for the squad and platoon commander. After that, they are awarded the military rank of "graduate student" and they are sent for training in the troops (for four to six months, depending on their specialization). Then, during the remaining time, future officers are trained to manage units up to and including a company. According to the curriculum, about 50 per cent. time is devoted to the study of military disciplines, up to 40 percent. - for general education subjects and 10 percent. - for physical training.

Operational and combat training staffs, units and subunits as a whole is at a satisfactory level, which makes it possible 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 the development of practical issues. Insufficient funding and weak material and technical support for the troops, as well as the lack of necessary experience among many commanders, often lead to the disruption of planned activities and the postponement of their implementation.

However, in Lately They were designed founding documents, the implementation of which can raise combat training to a qualitative level new level(organizational and methodological guidelines for the training of ground forces, plans for the training of command and control bodies and troops, a program for combat training of motorized infantry (infantry, tank) units and subunits, a program for commander training of officers).

Recently, the following activities have been carried out in the NE:

• educational and methodological meetings at the headquarters of the Army with the heads of operational departments and combat training departments for planning and organizing operational and combat training; in military districts (VO) - with commanders of formations and units, heads of combat training departments of VO, battalion commanders on the methodology for organizing and conducting exercises with a platoon, company, battalion in the main subjects of training;
• demonstrative separate staff training with the operational control of the army headquarters, separate staff training in the departments of the army headquarters;
• command and staff exercises with 5 VOs;
• joint staff training with the headquarters of the SV;
• demonstrative exercises for company tactical exercises with live firing and live firing of platoons.

In addition, units of the Army participated in the exercise "Felino-2004" within the framework of the Community of Portuguese-speaking countries.

An analysis of the measures taken shows that the leadership of the Armed Forces has 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 the officer corps, the interaction between command and control agencies and troops has grown significantly, but it still does not allow us to fully resolve issues related to operational and combat training.

Certain positive results give talks 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 armament of the formations and units of the Angola Army consists of weapons and military equipment mainly of Soviet production, a significant part of which has exhausted its resource, is obsolete, which, with a weak repair base, makes it difficult to maintain and combat use. A particularly difficult situation, as noted by Western experts, has arisen in the armored and artillery units, where the shortage of military equipment is 60 and 80 percent, respectively.

The difficult economic situation of the country, the lack of financial resources are forcing the Angolan government to seek help from foreign partners, 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 military personnel and a wide range of benefits that 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 implement a set of measures aimed at increasing the combat readiness of formations and units (primarily by updating the fleet of combat vehicles).

When resolving the issue of downsizing, the General Staff proceeds from the fact that insufficiently competent commanders and chiefs, as well as persons whose loyalty to the current CRP is in doubt, should be fired from the ranks of the armed forces in the first place. In the opinion of the military leadership of the Republic of Armenia, these organizational measures should not have a negative impact on the level of combat readiness of the troops.

In general, at present, the armed forces of Angola in general and the ground forces in particular, given low level equipped with modern weapons and military equipment, they are able to perform 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» №11 2005

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

GROUND TROOPS

Colonel L. BANDALETS

The military-political leadership (MPD) 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 pillar 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 a combat-ready state.

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

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

The country's leadership is taking measures to reform the Armed Forces, which function 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 spending on defense was significantly reduced (the budget of the military department in 2004 amounted to about $1 billion). At present, the main attention of the military leadership is focused on the search for potential partners who can provide assistance on preferential terms in matters of restoring the combat readiness of weapons and military equipment (WME) located in units and subunits, as well as improving the repair base of types of aircraft.

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

Ground troops are the main and most numerous type of aircraft. In administrative terms, they are subordinate to the Minister of Defense, and operationally - to the Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces. Directly in charge of this type is 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 - carries out the operational management of the ground forces in wartime, as well as the planning of combat training and the organization of the daily activities of units and subunits in peacetime (see the organizational structure of the ground forces headquarters in the diagram).

According to the Angolan military leadership, the ground forces are an independent branch of the armed forces and are designed to conduct combat operations on land. In terms of their combat capabilities, they are capable, both independently and in cooperation with other branches of the Armed Forces, of conducting an offensive with the aim of defeating enemy troops and capturing its territory, inflicting fire strikes to the operational depth, repelling enemy incursions, including combating its air and sea landings.

In wartime, the NE is entrusted with the following tasks: protection of the national territory and population; repelling the enemy invasion, inflicting maximum damage on him with the available forces and means; carrying out retaliatory strikes in order to restore the situation along the state border; pursuit of the enemy outside the national territory until his complete defeat.

In peacetime, the primary functions of the ground forces are: protecting the national territory from external and internal threats; participation in the restoration of the country's infrastructure and the demining of its own territory; participation in peacekeeping peacekeeping operations within the framework of international organizations; participation in the elimination of the consequences of natural disasters.

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

This type of aircraft 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.

The issues of manning the ground forces, serving in them by various categories of military personnel, their status and social position, 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 under short-term (16-24 months) and long-term (three to five years) contracts.

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

Article 2 of the law "On the passage of military service" states that universal military service is established in Angola. According to the country's constitution, the protection of the national sovereignty and territorial integrity of the republic is a sacred duty and an honorable duty of every Angolan citizen.

Scheme of the deployment of the ground forces of Angola

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

As a rule, recruitment of officer personnel is carried out at the expense of graduates of the officer school (Lobito), as well as reserve officers and those who graduated from 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 hold positions up to the company commander, inclusive, and as they advance in the service, they can be awarded a military rank up to captain (inclusive). The school trains for two years. During the first, cadets receive the basics of military knowledge and skills necessary for the squad and platoon commander. After that, they are awarded the military rank of "graduate student" and they are sent for training in the troops (for four to six months, depending on their specialization). Then, during the remaining time, future officers are trained to manage units up to and including a company. According to the curriculum, about 50 per cent. time is devoted 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, which makes it possible 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 weak material and technical support for the troops, as well as the lack of necessary experience among many commanders, often lead to the disruption of planned activities and the postponement of their implementation.

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

Recently, the following activities have been carried out in the NE:

Training and methodological meetings at the headquarters of the Army with the heads of operational departments and combat training departments for planning and organizing operational and combat training; in military districts (VO) - with commanders of formations and units, heads of combat training departments of VO, battalion commanders on the methodology for organizing and conducting exercises with a platoon, company, battalion in the main subjects of training;

Demonstrative separate staff training with the operational control of the army headquarters, separate staff training in the departments of the army headquarters;

Command-staff exercises with 5 military units;

Joint staff training with the headquarters of the SV;

Demonstration exercises for conducting company tactical exercises with live firing and live firing of platoons.

In addition, units of the Army participated in the exercise "Felino-2004" within the framework of the Community of Portuguese-speaking countries.

An analysis of the measures taken shows that the leadership of the Armed Forces has 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 the officer corps, the interaction between command and control agencies and troops has grown significantly, but it still does not allow us to fully resolve 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, South Africa give 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 formations and units of the Angola Army are armed with weapons and military equipment mainly of Soviet production, a significant part of which has exhausted its resource, is obsolete, which, with a weak repair base, makes it difficult to maintain and combat use. A particularly difficult situation, as noted by Western experts, has arisen in the armored and artillery units, where the shortage of military equipment is 60 and 80 percent, respectively.

The difficult economic situation of the country, the lack of financial resources are forcing the Angolan government to seek help from foreign partners, 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 the military and the wide list of benefits that 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 implement a set of measures aimed at increasing the combat readiness of formations and units (primarily by updating the fleet of combat vehicles).

When resolving the issue of downsizing, the General Staff proceeds from the fact that insufficiently competent commanders and chiefs, as well as persons whose loyalty to the current VIR is in doubt, should be dismissed from the ranks of the armed forces in the first place. In the opinion of the military leadership of the Republic of Armenia, these organizational measures should not have a negative impact on the level of combat readiness of the troops.

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

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