Angolan Armed Forces The Angolan Armed Forces ( Portuguese : " Forças Armadas Angolanas " ) are the military in Angola that succeeded Forças Armadas de Libertação de Angola ( FAPLA ) following the abortive Bicesse Accord with UNITA in 1991 . As part of the peace agreement , troops from both armies were to be demilitarized and then integrated . Integration was never completed as UNITA went back to war in 1992 . Later , consequences for UNITA members in Luanda were harsh with FAPLA veterans persecuting their erstwhile opponents in certain areas and reports of vigilantism . Commands . The FAA is headed by Chief of Staff Geraldo Sachipengo Nunda since 2010 , who reports to the Minister of Defense , currently Cândido Pereira Van - Dúnem . The defense budget in 2005 totaled 1 . 16 billion US Dollar s . There are three components , the Army ( " Forças Armadas " ) , Navy ( " Marinha de Guerra " ) and Air Force " Força Aérea Nacional Angolana " . Total manpower is about 130 , 500 . ( 2007 ) . Angolan Air Force . Airforce personnel total about 8 , 000 ; its equipment includes eight Russia n - manufactured Sukhoi Su - 27 fighter aircraft and transport planes . In 2002 one was lost during the civil war with UNITA forces . Angolan Army . The army is by far the largest of the services with about 120 , 000 men and women . The Angolan Army has around 29 , 000 " ghost workers " who remain enrolled in the ranks of the FAA and therefore receive a salary . As of 2013 , the Army has three military regions and 16 ' brigade s ' , comprising infantry , tank s , APC , artillery , and AA units as required . Major equipment included over 140 main battle tank s , 600 reconnaissance vehicles , over 320 armored vehicle s , infantry fighting vehicle s , 298 howitzers carriers . In 1991 , the Air Force / Air Defense Forces had 8 , 000 personnel and 90 combat capable aircraft , including 22 fighters , 59 fighter ground attack aircraft and 16 attack helicopters . Angolan Navy ( Marinha de Guerra ) . The Navy numbers about 2 , 500 and operates seven small patrol craft and barges . The Angolan Navy ( MGA ) has been neglected and ignored as a military arm mainly due to the guerrilla struggle against the Portuguese and the nature of the civil war . From the early 1990s to the present the Angolan Navy has shrunk from around 4 200 personnel to around 1 000 , resulting in the loss of skills and expertise needed to maintain equipment . In order to protect Angola ’ s 1 600 km long coastline , the Angolan Navy is undergoing modernisation but is still lacking in many ways . Portugal has been providing training through its Technical Military Cooperation ( CTM ) programme . The Navy is requesting procurement of a frigate , three corvettes , three offshore patrol vessel and additional fast patrol boats . Most of the craft detailed are from the 1980s or earlier , but the navy acquired new boats from Spain and France in the 1990s . Germany will deliver Fast Attack Craft for border protection from 2011 . The navy also has several aircraft for maritime patrol : Foreign deployments . The FAPLA ' s main counterinsurgency effort was directed against UNITA in the southeast , and its conventional capabilities were demonstrated principally in the undeclared South African Border War . The FAPLA first performed its external assistance mission with the dispatch of 1 , 000 to 1 , 500 troops to São Tomé and Príncipe in 1977 to bolster the socialist regime of President Manuel Pinto da Costa . During the next several years , Angolan forces conducted joint exercises with their counterparts and exchanged technical operational visits . The Angolan expeditionary force was reduced to about 500 in early 1985 . The Angolan Armed Forces were controversially involved in training the armed forces of fellow Lusophone states Cape Verde and Guinea - Bissau . In the case of the latter , the 2012 Guinea - Bissau coup d ' état was cited by the coup leaders as due to Angola ' s involvement in trying to " reform " the military in connivance with the civilian leadership . A small number of FAA personnel are stationed in the Democratic Republic of the Congo ( Kinshasa ) and the Republic of the Congo ( Brazzaville ) . A presence during the unrest in Côte d ' Ivoire , 2010 – 2011 , were not officially confirmed . However , the " Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung " , citing " Jeune Afrique " , said that among President Gbagbo ' s guards were 92 personnel of President Dos Santos ' s Presidential Guard Unit . Angola is basically interested in the participation of the FAA operations of the African Union and has formed special units for this purpose .