List of weapons of the Portuguese Colonial War

Portuguese Army soldiers in the beginning of the War in Angola. The camouflage uniforms and the FN FAL assault rifles identify them as *Caçadores Especiais*. At this time, the remaining Army forces still wore yellow khaki field uniforms and were mostly armed with bolt-action rifles.

The Portuguese Colonial War (Portuguese: Guerra Colonial), also referred to as the Portuguese Overseas War or Overseas War (Portuguese: Guerra do Ultramar) for short, was a military conflict staged during the Decolonisation of Africa that pitted the guerrilla forces of the African nationalist Liberation movements of the Guinea-Bissau, Angola and Mozambique overseas provinces, which were part of the Portuguese Empire, against the colonial armed and security forces loyal to the authoritarian Estado Novo regime of Portugal, between 1961 and 1975. Main combatants comprised:

The Portuguese Armed Forces (Portuguese: Forças Armadas), which were backed by the United States, United Kingdom, West Germany, France, Francoist Spain, Belgium, Rhodesia and South Africa, were the official military of Portugal. Subordinated to the Ministry of National Defence and placed under the command of the Secretariat-General of National Defence (Portuguese: Secretariado-Geral da Defesa Nacional – SGDN), of the Portuguese government at the capital Lisbon, the branches were organized as follows:
- The Portuguese Army (Portuguese: Exército Português)
- The Portuguese Air Force (Portuguese: Força Aérea Portuguesa), or FAP in the Portuguese acronym but internationally is often referred to by the acronym PRTAF.
- The Portuguese Navy (Portuguese: Marinha Portuguesa), also known as Marinha de Guerra Portuguesa or as Armada Portuguesa.
The Portuguese Security Forces, subordinated to the Overseas Ministry (Portuguese: Ministério do Ultramar) in Lisbon:
- The Public Security Police (Portuguese: Polícia de Segurança Pública – PSP), the uniformed Preventive police (actually, a Colonial police force) of the Portuguese overseas territories, which was modelled after the European Portuguese PSP, the national civil police force of Portugal.^[1]
- The irregular Auxiliary Forces (Portuguese: Forças Auxiliares).
The African nationalist Liberation movements:
- The African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde (Portuguese: Partido Africano para a Independência da Guiné e Cabo Verde – PAIGC) party (1956–present), and its military wing the Revolutionary Armed Forces of the People (Portuguese: Forças Armadas Revolucionárias do Povo – FARP), which received support from the Soviet Union, East Germany, Poland, Czechoslovakia, the Socialist Republic of Romania, SFR Yugoslavia, the People's Republic of Bulgaria, Sweden, North Korea, the People's Republic of China, Cuba, Libya, Ghana, Senegal, and Guinea-Conacry.^[2]^[3]
- The People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola (Portuguese: Movimento Popular de Libertação de Angola – MPLA) party (1956–present), and its military wing the People's Army for the Liberation of Angola (Portuguese: Exército Popular de Libertação de Angola – EPLA), which received support from the Soviet Union, East Germany, Cuba, Morocco, Algeria, Republic of the Congo, Ghana, Guinea-Conacry, Tanzania, and Zambia.^[4]^[5]
- The National Front for the Liberation of Angola (Portuguese: Frente Nacional de Libertação de Angola – FNLA) party (1961–present), and its military wing the National Army for the Liberation of Angola (Portuguese: Exército de Libertação Nacional de Angola – ELNA), which received support from the United States, the People's Republic of China, West Germany, Israel, France, the Socialist Republic of Romania, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Ghana, Zaire, and Liberia.^[6]^[5]
- The National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (Portuguese: União Nacional para a Independência Total de Angola – UNITA) party (1966–present), and its military wing the Armed Forces of the Liberation of Angola (Portuguese: Forças Armadas de Libertação de Angola – FALA), which received support from the People's Republic of Bulgaria, the People's Republic of China, Egypt, and Zambia.^[7]^[5]
- The Front for the Liberation of the Enclave of Cabinda (Portuguese: Frente para a Libertação do Enclave de Cabinda – FLEC) party (1963–present), which received support from the United States, France, Zaire, and South Africa.
- The Liberation Front of Mozambique (Portuguese: Frente de Libertação de Moçambique – FRELIMO) party (1962–present), and its military wing the Popular Forces for the Liberation of Mozambique (Portuguese: Forças Populares de Libertação de Moçambique – FPLM), which received support from the Soviet Union, East Germany, the People's Republic of Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Poland, SFR Yugoslavia, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, the Netherlands, Cuba, the People's Republic of China, Algeria, Libya, Egypt, Republic of the Congo, Tanzania, and Zambia.^[8]^[9]

An eclectic variety of weapons was used by all sides in the Portuguese Colonial War. The Portuguese Military and Security Forces serving in the African territories were equipped with Western-made weapon systems from both World War I and World War II, mainly Portuguese, Austro-Hungarian, Danish, German, Italian, French, Canadian and British in origin, but also included more modern Portuguese, Spanish, French, British, Belgian, Dutch, West German, American and South African military hardware. During the early phase of the war, the African Liberation Movements likewise were largely equipped with WWII-vintage Western arms and munitions, though as the war went on, Soviet, Eastern Bloc and Chinese weaponry began to play a major role, particularly after 1970.^[7]