battle, notable, Cold War

Battle of Cuito Cuanavale

Name: Battle of Cuito Cuanavale
Start: 1987-08-14
Location: Angola

Battle of Cuito Cuanavale was a battle fought on 14 August 1987 in what is now Angola.

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Menongue and Cuito Cuanavale in Angola. Ceresnet, CC BY-SA 2.5, via Wikimedia Commons.

Fought14 August 1987

WhereAngola15.164S, 19.173E

OutcomeSouth Africa and UNITA defeat a major FAPLA offensive towards Mavinga, inflicting heavy casualties on FAPLA and preserving UNITA's control of southern Angola.; Remaining FAPLA units repel several South African and UNITA attacks near the Tumpo River.; Withdrawal over several months of most South African and UNITA troops from Cuito Cuanavale under Operation Displace; Round One of Tripartite Accord talks commences

BelligerentsNational Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA); Armed Forces for the Liberation of Angola (FALA); South Africa; border|23px South African Defence Force; 22px South West African Territorial Force (SWATF)againstPeople's Republic of Angola; People's Armed Forces of Liberation of Angola (FAPLA); Cuba; 22px Cuban Revolutionary Armed Forces (FAR); South West African People's Organisation; People's Liberation Army of Namibia (PLAN); African National Congress; Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK); Soviet Union; East Germany; North Korea; Vietnam

Record

Date	14 August 1987
Place	Angola 15.164S, 19.173E
Kind	Battle, Cold War
Strength	UNITA: 28,000 militants; 37,000 irregulars; 24+ T-55 tanks; South Africa: 700 combat troops; (later up to 3,000); 13 Olifant tanks; 120 Ratel infantry fighting vehicles; 1 battery of Valkiri; 2 batteries of G5 howitzers; 1 troop of G6 howitzers; 12 multirole fighter aircraft; 4 bomber aircraft	FAPLA: 6,000 combat troops; (later up to 18,000); 150 T-55/62 tanks; ~97 BRDM-2 scout cars; 80+ armoured personnel carriers; ~43 BM-21 Grad; 96 multirole fighter aircraft; 8 bomber aircraft; Cuba: 300 advisory personnel; 3,000 combat troops (February, 1988); 32 T-55/62 tanksSoviet Union: 1,000 advisory personnel; East Germany: 2,000 advisory personnel; PLAN: 7,000 guerrillas; MK: 900 guerrillas
Casualties and losses	UNITA: 3,000 killed; South Africa: 38 dead; 90 wounded; 3 tanks lost; 5 Ratels lost; 6 other armoured vehicles lost; 2 aircraft shot down; 1 aircraft crashed	FAPLA: 4,768 dead; 10,000+ wounded; 94 tanks lost; 65 APCs lost; 12 aircraft shot down; Cuba: 42 soldiers dead; 7 pilots dead; 3 pilots POW; 70 wounded (UNITA claim); 6 tanks lost; 6 aircraft shot down; MK: 100 dead; 2 POW; Soviet Union: 3-4 dead; 5 wounded
Commanders	Arlindo Pena Ben-Ben Abreu Kamorteiro Demosthenes Amos Chilingutila Magnus Malan Andreas Liebenberg Deon Ferreira	António França Pyotr Gusev (soldier) Ulises Rosales del Toro Arnaldo Ochoa Leopoldo Cintra Frías

The recorded site, with the nearest other engagements in the atlas. Present-day coastlines, rivers and borders; towns from Natural Earth.

Nearest engagements

Battle of Cassinga 1978, 331 km W
Battle of Ongulumbashe 1966, 331 km W
Battle of Mongua 1915, 460 km SW
Battle of Namutoni 1904, 470 km SW
Battle of Mufilo 1907, 483 km SW

Elsewhere in 1987

Operation Earnest Will United Arab Emirates
Siege of Basra Iraq
Iraqi attack on USS Stark
Battle of Maaten al-Sarra Libya
Battle of Jaji Afghanistan

Battle of Cuito Cuanavale is one of 2,997 engagements of the 20th century in the atlas and one of 19 in present-day Angola.

Sources

Identity, coordinates, dates and the war from Wikidata Q386051, released under CC0. Result, belligerents, commanders, strength and casualties from the infobox of the English Wikipedia article Battle of Cuito Cuanavale, revision 1383446693, read 2026-11-14, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0; the article's text is not reproduced here. Present-day country and state from Natural Earth. Dates before 1582 follow the Julian calendar as recorded.