This is the Russian PMD-6 (ПMД-6), a High-Explosive-Blast (HE-Blast), rectangular, wooden, Anti-Personnel (AP), landmine that is designed to wound or kill by its HE-Blast effect also copied in China. The upper portion of the box overlaps the lower portion which...
This is the Russian TM-57, a High-Explosive-Blast (HE-Blast), circular, sheet-metal-bodied, Anti-Vehicle (AV), landmine that is designed to damage or destroy a vehicle by its HE-Blast effect and was designed for mechanical laying. It is an improvement on the TM-46 and...
The engines of a Soviet reconnaissance aircraft roared in the sky above the South Atlantic, taking off on a mission from the airfield in Fedotovo near Vologda. Behind them was the Cuban airfield of Jose Marti, then the Angolan airfield in Luanda. The target was...
This is the Russian F1(Ф1), a High-Explosive-Fragmentation (HE-Frag), defensive, striker-release (SR), hand-grenade, nicknamed the Limonka (lemon-like), used as an Anti-Personnel (AP) hand-grenade and also used as part of a booby-trap (BTP), it has been copied in many...
This is the Yugoslavian PROM-1, a High-Explosive-Fragmentation (HE-Frag), pressure or tripwire (TPW) actuated, bounding, Anti-Personnel (AP), landmine. It consists of a cylindrical body with a pronged fuze inserted into the top of the landmine. The landmine is...
This is the Yugoslavian TMA-3, a High-Explosive-Blast (HE-Blast), minimum-metal, Anti-Vehicle (AV), landmine made from cast explosive and covered in a coarse resin-reinforced fabric. On the top surface of the landmine, three threaded plastic fuze wells are set into...
This is the Russian TMD-44, a High-Explosive-Blast (HE-Blast), square-shaped, wooden-bodied, Anti-Vehicle (AV), landmine that is designed to damage or destroy a vehicle by its blast effect, similar in appearance to the Russian TMD-B of WWII and appears to be an...
This is the Russian RGD-5 (РГД-5), Granata Distantsionnaya, Distance-Hand-Grenade or Time-Delayed (DLY) hand-grenade, a post World War 2, High-Explosive-Fragmentation (HE-Frag), Anti-Personnel (AP), defensive, hand-grenade, designed in the early 1950s, also made in...
This is the Russian TM-46 and TMN-46, High-Explosive-Blast (HE-Blast), large, metal-bodied, Anti-Vehicle (AV), landmines that may be laid mechanically or by hand, also copied in China and designated the Type 59. In addition to conventional pressure fuzes (MV-5 and...
During Angola's long-running civil war, MiG-21s of the Cuban Air Force were frequently deployed to attack ground targets manned by rebel forces or engage South African Air Force Mirage F1s conducting cross-border strikes. Most MiG-21 losses over Angola were attributed...
The POMZ-2M is a stake-mounted anti-personnel fragmentation mine made in the former Soviet Union. The body of the mine is a cast-iron thick-walled tube with five rows of cast fragmentation "chunks". This is usually mounted on a short wooden stake. Because the mine is...
The PMN is a bakelite-cased, pressure operated, anti-personnel blast mine (sometimes called the 'Black-widow'). Made in the former Soviet Union, it has been found in Afghanistan, Angola, Azerbaijan, Cambodia, Chechnya, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Georgia, Honduras,...
The early MiG-23 variants had a number of design shortcomings, including airframe strength and reliability, engine performance, maneuverability and radar performance. A considerable redesign of the airframe was conducted, resulting in the MiG-23ML (L - Lyogkiy or...
Fighter pilot memoirs & accounts of Cuban, SAAF and Angolan air combat in Southern African skies Most books on the Angolan Bush War, especially those in English, present the South African perspective of events. Now a former MiG-23 Squadron Commander of the Cuban...
Angolan and Cuban Forces, 1976-1983 As of mid-1976, the civil war in Angola was seemingly decided: supported by a large contingent of Cuban forces, the MPLA established itself in power in Luanda. Its native competitors, the US-French-Zaire-supported FNLA, and UNITA,...
The road to Cuito Cuanavale: Soviet Soldiers’ accounts of the Angolan War For almost fifteen year South Africa was involved in a civil war in Angola, the so-called Bush War, on behalf of the UNITA faction. The climax of this portrayed conflict was the battle of Cuito...