| Operation Magneto | |
|---|---|
| Part of the Angolan Civil War and South African Border War | |
| Location | Angola   Mavinga Jamba Cazombo Cuito Cuanavale Operation Magneto (Angola) |
| Objective | Aid UNITA to transport its troops to Cazombo |
| Date | 23 August - 10 September 1985 |
Operation Magneto was a military operation in August 1985 to transport UNITA soldiers by the South African Defence Force (SADF) during the Angolan Civil War and South African Border War.
In mid 1985, the Angolan government formulated an offensive called Operation Congresso II. The plan called for the largest ever two frontal attack on UNITA forces in Angola. [1] :Chp11 Led by Soviet and Cuban military advisors this plan called for a simultaneous attack on Cazombo in the east and Mavinga in the south-east and to take one or both objectives by 3 September. [2] :213 The objective of the operation was to split UNITA forces, forcing them to fight on two fronts and therefore weakening their defensive capability. The potential loss of Mavinga by UNITA could give FAPLA the opportunity to stage a further attack on UNITA's capital at Jamba. [2] :213 The South Africans believed that if Mavinga was taken, FAPLA would move its air defence network southwards, threatening the South African Air Force (SAAF) ability to protect Jamba from Angolan air attack, making it susceptible to ground attack and opening southern Angola to increased SWAPO activity into Namibia. [2] :214
Cazombo is situated in eastern Angola close to the border with Zambia was under UNITA control. In response to FAPLA's advance to recapture the region and town, UNITA requested assistance from the SADF to move its soldiers from the south to the east using the SAAF. [1] :Chp11 The SAAF sent mobile air operations teams (MAOT) to each airfield to control the planned operations that would take place at night to prevent interference by Angolan air force combat aircraft. [1] :Chp11 The operations would last from 23 August until 10 September 1985 and would involve 220 flying hours by C-130 and C-160 transport aircraft and 30 hours of Puma helicopter flights to UNITA controlled airfields at Cazombo and Gago Couthino. [1] :Chp11
The operation would be reversed and the UNITA soldiers were flown back by the SAAF to assist in the defence of Mavinga and their headquarters at Jamba. The return and defence operations were known as Operation Weldmesh and Operation Wallpaper.
The Battle of Cuito Cuanavale was fought intermittently between 14 August 1987 and 23 March 1988, south and east of the town of Cuito Cuanavale, Angola, by the People's Armed Forces for the Liberation of Angola, Cuba, South Africa, and insurgents of the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA) during the Angolan Civil War and South African Border War. The battle was the largest engagement of the Angolan conflict and the biggest conventional battle on the African continent since World War II. UNITA and its South African allies defeated a major FAPLA offensive towards Mavinga, preserving the former's control of southern Angola. They proceeded to launch a bloody but inconclusive counteroffensive on FAPLA defensive positions around the Tumpo River east of Cuito Cuanavale.
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