Operation Konyn ( en, Operation Rabbit) was a

military operation A military operation is the coordinated military actions of a state, or a non-state actor, in response to a developing situation. These actions are designed as a military plan to resolve the situation in the state or actor's favor. Operations may ...

by the

South African Defence Force The South African Defence Force (SADF) (Afrikaans: ''Suid-Afrikaanse Weermag'') comprised the armed forces of South Africa from 1957 until 1994. Shortly before the state reconstituted itself as a republic in 1961, the former Union Defence F ...

during the

South African Border War The South African Border War, also known as the Namibian War of Independence, and sometimes denoted in South Africa as the Angolan Bush War, was a largely asymmetric conflict that occurred in Namibia (then South West Africa), Zambia, and Angol ...

and

Angolan Civil War The Angolan Civil War ( pt, Guerra Civil Angolana) was a civil war in Angola, beginning in 1975 and continuing, with interludes, until 2002. The war immediately began after Angola became independent from Portugal in November 1975. The war was ...

. Operation Konyn was launched on 21 August 1981. The operation preceded

Operation Protea Operation Protea was a military operation during the South African Border War and Angolan Civil War in which South African Defence Forces (SADF) destroyed a number of South West Africa People's Organisation (SWAPO) bases in Angola. During the ...

with the objective of destroying targets at

Cahama Cahama is a town, with a population of 12,767 (2014 census), and a municipality of Cunene Province, Angola. The population of the municipality was 70,061 according to the 2014 census in an area of 9,700 km. The municipality consists of the c ...

and Chibemba in Angola. The Angolans had built a series of radar and early warning stations at Cahama, Chibemba, Lubango and

Menongue Menongue, formerly Serpa Pinto, is a town, a municipality, and the capital of Cuando Cubango Province in Angola. The municipality had a population of 320,914 in 2014. It is one of the four municipalities in Angola whose inhabitants are predominan ...

. Attacking the first two target towns would ensure that the

People's Armed Forces for the Liberation of Angola The People's Armed Forces of Liberation of Angola ( pt, Forças Armadas Populares de Libertação de Angola) or FAPLA was originally the armed wing of the People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) but later (1975–1991) became Ango ...

(FAPLA) would not interfere with the

South African Air Force "Through hardships to the stars" , colours = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = , equipment ...

operations in support of

(SADF) ground troops taking part Operation Protea against

People's Liberation Army of Namibia The People's Liberation Army of Namibia (PLAN) was the military wing of the South West Africa People's Organisation (SWAPO). It fought against the South African Defence Force (SADF) and South West African Territorial Force (SWATF) during the Sout ...

bases.Louw, Martin & Bouwer, Stefaan (1995). ''The South African Air Force at War.'' p. 174.

Background

Planning for the operation began on the 21 August 1981 while SADF ground combat units begun to form up in position for Operation Protea that was to begin on the early morning of 23 August. On the morning of the 23 August, SAAF combat aircraft consisting of two

Canberra Canberra ( ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The ci ...

bombers, eight Mirage F-1's and two

Buccaneers Buccaneers were a kind of privateers or free sailors particular to the Caribbean Sea during the 17th and 18th centuries. First established on northern Hispaniola as early as 1625, their heyday was from the Restoration in 1660 until about 1688 ...

attacked facilities at Cahama. Minutes later a further two Canberra bombers, sixteen Mirage F-1's attacked the radar installations at Chibemba. The radar facilities were heavily defended by SA-7s. By the afternoon, five Canberra bombers returned to Cahama and bombed it again and later that evening the Buccaneer's returned and attacked a transport depot north east of this target town.

Aftermath

On 26 August, during Operation Protea, the town of Cahama and Chibembe were again bombed by the SAAF. The following day FAPLA engineers arrived at the towns and begun to rebuild the radar installations and upgrade the defensive positions. At the same time a mechanised battalion of PLAN arrived at Cahama, under FAPLA command, to take up a defensive position.

Background

Aftermath

References

Further reading