Howard Barrell
The Angolan rebel movement Unita has taken delivery of up to six Russian-built MiG fighter aircraft for use in its intensified civil war with the government in Luanda, according to security sources in Southern Africa.
The aircraft are understood to have come from Ukraine, formerly part of the defunct Soviet Union, and Angolan government sources are alleging they reached Unita via Zambia. The government in Luanda has denounced Zambia for allegedly being a major conduit for arms supplies to Unita, and threatened military action two months ago if this did not cease.
The MiGs add to Unita’s ability to strike at far-off military targets and might enable it to challenge for air superiority in the nigh conventional battles in which it has recently been engaging government forces in the central highlands of Angola.
The specifications of all Unita’s new fixed- wing aircraft are not known, but a number of them are MiG 23s.
Earlier this month, intelligence sources also said that Unita had taken delivery of six Russian-built Hind helicopters. Like the MiGs, the Hinds put offshore oil installations well within range of a Unita strike.
The Hinds are understood to have reached Unita strongholds in Angola after being flown in via Entebbe airport in Uganda. The main route for arms supplies to Unita has recently been Eastern Europe, via North Africa, Entebbe and into the the rebels’ central highlands strongholds.
Uganda is, in effect, in alliance with Unita. They are both backing rebels fighting President Laurent Kabila in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The Angolan government is among those countries supporting Kabila.
The MiG 23 is a 1980s multiple-role fighter with a combat radius of about 500km whose air-to-air capabilities are better than its capabilities as an air-to-ground attack aircraft or bomber. According to Helmut Heitman, South African correspondent for Jane’s defence publications, in terms of its sophistication, the MiG 23 would rate somewhere between the old Mirage F1 used by the South African Air Force and the more advanced Cheetah. It could operate from a gravel air strip, “but it doesn’t like it”, Heitman added.
The Mail & Guardian’s sources said Unita’s MiGs were being maintained by white crews and would be flown by white pilots. “At this stage, we don’t know if the crews speak Ukrainian or Afrikaans,” the M&G was told.
One source said buying a MiG was a “relatively cheap business – they are even advertised for sale on the Internet”.
“The expensive part is the MiG’s operating costs – its maintenance and fuel,” he added.
It was clear that Unita was now moving into a phase of “conventional, mobile, combined arms warfare” with the Angolan government, the source said.
He did not anticipate Unita would have difficulty in hiding the aircraft. “They are masters of camouflage,” he said. Moreover, Unita had long been able to maintain, supply and protect a fleet of transport aircraft used to fly in arms and other supplies.
A weapons expert told the M&G that, if Unita were to get about 18 MiGs, it could fundamentally alter the balance of power between it and the Angolan government. “But six is too few to do that,” he added.