Office of the Historian

181. Report Prepared by the Working Group on Angola1

No. 154
Washington, February 20, 1976.

SUBJECT

  • Military Matériel Sent to Zaire Under the Angola Covert Paramilitary Program
1.
A total of about [dollar amount not declassified] has been committed to date for ordnance and related matériel under the Angola covert paramilitary program. This amount represents:
  • —The cost of items sent to Zaire or about to be sent to Zaire for transshipment to the forces of the National Front for the Liberation of Angola (FNLA) and the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA);
  • —items given Zaire to replace similar items Zaire donated to FNLA and UNITA;
  • —and matériel given Zaire in accordance with discussions with President Mobutu which served as an incentive to increase Zaire’s support for FNLA and UNITA.
2.
Of the [dollar amount not declassified] total, about [dollar amount not declassified] has been spent or earmarked for matériel for FNLA and [Page 454] UNITA. The remaining [dollar amount not declassified] has been spent on matériel sent to Kinshasa specifically for the Zairian Armed Forces (FAZ). This matériel for FAZ included such items as twelve M113 armored personnel carriers, 9,000 M–16 rifles, and eighteen 4.2-inch mortars.
3.
It would appear that the [dollar amount not declassified] spentto replenishFAZ stocks and to encourage Zaire in its support of the FNLA and UNITA was worthwhile: President Mobutu has sent to Angola military matériel from his own stocks worth [dollar amount not declassified]
4.
Of the matériel already sent to Zaire for transshipment to Angola, all had been transshipped as of 18 February except 180 M–79 grenade launchers worth [dollar amount not declassified]700 LAW shoulder-fired antitank weapons worth [dollar amount not declassified] and 18 SA–7 surface-to-air missiles worth [1 line not declassified] (Thirty-two SA–7 missiles were deployed to Angola.) The grenade launchers and LAW’s are expected to be sent to Angola shortly.
5.
Matériel not yet sent to Zaire for transshipment to UNITA forces in Angola was described in an attachment to Working Group Paper No. 153.2 These supplies represent the last remaining items in the pipeline under the approved $31.7 million covert program, and are valued at [dollar amount not declassified]
  1. Source: Library of Congress, Manuscript Division, Kissinger Papers, Box CL 104, Geopolitical File, Angola Chronological File. Secret; Sensitive; Eyes Only.↩
  2. Dated February 18. (Ibid.)↩