Operation Saluting October

Operation Saluting October
Operation Saluting October
Part of Battle of Cuito Cuanavale
	Map depicting FAPLA and South African/FALA troop movements during Operation Saluting October and Operation Moduler
Planned by	Pyotr Gusev; Ivan Ryabchenko
Objective	Capture of Mavinga
Date	July 12 - October 7, 1987
Executed by	People's Armed Forces of Liberation of Angola (FAPLA)
Outcome	FAPLA objectives failed; offensive stalls at Lomba River; South Africa launches Operation Moduler to halt the offensive;

Operation Saluting October (Portuguese: Operação Saludando Octubre, alternatively translated as Operation Salute to October)^[1] was an offensive carried out by the People's Armed Forces of Liberation of Angola (FAPLA) against the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA) and its armed wing, the Armed Forces of the Liberation of Angola (FALA), during the Angolan Civil War. The preliminary phase of the operation commenced in July 1987.^[2] The principal FAPLA objective was to advance two hundred kilometres from its bases at Cuito Cuanavale to seize the strategically vital FALA logistics centre at Mavinga.^[3] In the meantime, a number of secondary movements towards the smaller FALA-held settlements of Cangamba and Cassamba were initiated to draw FALA troops away from Mavinga.^[4] The capture of Mavinga was projected to cause the collapse of FALA's entire southeastern front, and pave the way for a second offensive on UNITA's political and military headquarters at Jamba.^[3] "Saluting October" was a reference to the seventieth anniversary of the Russian October Revolution.^[7]

^ ^a ^b Gleijeses, Piero (2013). Visions of Freedom: Havana, Washington, Pretoria, and the Struggle for Southern Africa, 1976–1991. Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press. pp. 393–425. ISBN 978-1-4696-0968-3.
^ ^a ^b Tokarev, Andrei; Shubin, Gennady, eds. (2011). Bush War: The Road to Cuito Cuanavale: Soviet Soldiers' Accounts of the Angolan War. Auckland Park: Jacana Media (Pty) Ltd. pp. 93, 128–148. ISBN 978-1-4314-0185-7.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Stapleton, Timothy (2010). A Military History of South Africa: From the Dutch-Khoi Wars to the End of Apartheid. Santa Barbara: Praeger Security International. pp. 169–185. ISBN 978-0313365898.
^ ^a ^b ^c Peter, Abbott; Helmoed-Romer Heitman; Paul Hannon (1991). Modern African Wars (3): South-West Africa. Osprey Publishing. pp. 5–13. ISBN 978-1-85532-122-9.
^ Fontanellaz, Adrien; Matos, Jose Augustus; Cooper, Tom (2021). War of Intervention in Angola, Volume 4: Angolan and Cuban Air Forces, 1985-1988. Warwick: Helion & Company. pp. 47–55. ISBN 978-1804510964.
^ Fontanellaz, Adrien; Matos, Jose Augustus; Cooper, Tom (2023). War of Intervention in Angola, Volume 5: Angolan and Cuban Air Forces, 1987-1992. Warwick: Helion & Company. pp. 4–19. ISBN 978-1804514153.
^ George, Edward (2005). The Cuban intervention in Angola. New York: Frank Cass Publishers. pp. 236–246. ISBN 978-0-415-64710-6.

[Freedom-1] Gleijeses, Piero (2013). Visions of Freedom: Havana, Washington, Pretoria, and the Struggle for Southern Africa, 1976–1991. Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press. pp. 393–425. ISBN 978-1-4696-0968-3.

[Soviet-2] Tokarev, Andrei; Shubin, Gennady, eds. (2011). Bush War: The Road to Cuito Cuanavale: Soviet Soldiers' Accounts of the Angolan War. Auckland Park: Jacana Media (Pty) Ltd. pp. 93, 128–148. ISBN 978-1-4314-0185-7.

[Stapleton2-3] Stapleton, Timothy (2010). A Military History of South Africa: From the Dutch-Khoi Wars to the End of Apartheid. Santa Barbara: Praeger Security International. pp. 169–185. ISBN 978-0313365898.

[MAA-4] Peter, Abbott; Helmoed-Romer Heitman; Paul Hannon (1991). Modern African Wars (3): South-West Africa. Osprey Publishing. pp. 5–13. ISBN 978-1-85532-122-9.

[Air4-5] Fontanellaz, Adrien; Matos, Jose Augustus; Cooper, Tom (2021). War of Intervention in Angola, Volume 4: Angolan and Cuban Air Forces, 1985-1988. Warwick: Helion & Company. pp. 47–55. ISBN 978-1804510964.

[Air5-6] Fontanellaz, Adrien; Matos, Jose Augustus; Cooper, Tom (2023). War of Intervention in Angola, Volume 5: Angolan and Cuban Air Forces, 1987-1992. Warwick: Helion & Company. pp. 4–19. ISBN 978-1804514153.

[George-7] George, Edward (2005). The Cuban intervention in Angola. New York: Frank Cass Publishers. pp. 236–246. ISBN 978-0-415-64710-6.

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