None of the Fiat G.91R fighter bombers were deployed in Angola until the Carnation Revolution—a coup by leftist officers of the Portuguese military…
This is a short story about the Fiat G.91R fighter‑bombers used by the Força Aérea Portuguesa (FAP, Portuguese Air Force) in Angola, a topic also examined in War of Intervention in Angola Volume 1, published by Helion & Company.
For many years, this story sparked considerable debate—not only within certain intelligence circles, but also among military aviation journalists. The situation was clarified only in 2007, when Portuguese researcher José Matos definitively addressed the matter in his article “Ginas über Afrika,” published in the German magazine Fliegerrevue Extra.
The Fiat G.91R saw extensive combat duty in two of Portugal’s overseas territories during the 1960s and early 1970s: Guiné (known as Guinea-Bissau since 1975) and Mozambique. None, however, were sent to Angola until after the Carnation Revolution in April 1974, when a coup by left-leaning Portuguese officers toppled the Lisbon junta and the new government effectively brought all of Portugal’s colonial wars to an abrupt end.
At that point, the bulk of Portugal’s armed forces was still deployed across its three overseas territories, so it was impossible to pull them out overnight. In addition, the various local nationalist movements needed time to assume control.
In September 1974, Esquadra 702, equipped with G.91Rs, was transferred from Mozambique to Angola. The squadron ferried all eight of its aircraft to Luanda International—serials 5415, 5421, 5426, 5430, 5432, 5433, 5436, and 5438. Shortly afterward, the unit was disbanded, and its jets were reassigned to Esquadra 93, where they took over from the heavily worn B-26s and PV-2s.
The first flights by FAP G.91Rs in Angola took place in October 1974 and were used primarily for training and familiarization, as Portugal had already halted offensive operations in the territory by that time.
Afterward, small detachments were sent to Nova Lisboa, Negage (AB.3), Benguela, and Cabinda (AM.95). No combat missions were carried out, as Portugal had ended all offensive operations following the 1974 coup.
The only exception was a short deployment of two to four G.91Rs, which carried out several strikes against FLEC insurgents in the Cabinda enclave—the northern portion of Angola separated from the rest of the country by what is now DR Congo. All eight G.91Rs were withdrawn to Portugal in January 1975: six (disassembled) were transported aboard FAP Noratlas aircraft, and two (also disassembled) on FAP Boeing 707s.
Even so, the G.91Rs’ brief stay in Luanda, the swift takeover of the city by various insurgent groups (chiefly the MPLA, but also the FNLA and elements of UNITA), the presence of a few Portuguese who tried or succeeded in joining the Angolan air force (formally created only in January 1976 with Cuban support), and subsequent developments all fueled speculation that Portugal had left some of its Fiats behind. Some accounts even alleged that these aircraft later engaged in combat against the CIA/DGSE-backed FNLA in northern Angola in early 1976. Remarkably, as late as 1986–1988, several British aviation magazines still listed the FAPA/DAA (Angolan air force) as operating four G.91Rs.
Actually, the aircraft involved were MiG-17Fs flown by Cuban pilots. The following photograph from José Matos’ collection shows two FAP G.91Rs flying over the well-known scrapyard of FAP B-26s and PV-2s at Luanda International.
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Photo by Mike Freer – Touchdown-aviation via Wikipedia
