The 20 Brigade operated at the end of a long and tenuous supply line. Moving fuel,ammunition, food, parts, and casualties from SADF bases in Namibia to the fighting zoneproved a significant challenge. It was approximately two hundred miles from Rundu, the major staging base south of the border, to the area of operations around Cuito Cuanavale. From there it was another hundred miles northwest to the battlefields near Cuito Cuanavale. No developed roads or convenient rivers provided easy access to the combat zone. Supplies moved in trucks via primitive paths through the bush or were flown in via transport aircraft to the strip at Mavinga, which served as an intermediate forward
operating base (FOB).101
The dense vegetation and rough ground in the theater took a surprisingly heavy toll
on the fuel consumption of the brigade's vehicles. Diesel usage rates for cross-country
movement proved much higher than expected for off-road travel. Keeping the several
hundred SADF vehicles full of gas was a constant worry; at times the columns had to be
withdrawn from combat prematurely or redistribute gasoline within the battle groups to
reach the refueling points. Fuel moved by air and ground to Mavinga, from there tanker
trucks shuttled back and forth to the front. On previous external operations SADF mobile
columns often resupplied their helicopters with fuel; the tanks of the Ratels and supply
lorries provided a sort of mobile FARP for the aviation element. During Modular helo
operations were limited by the air threat to night time casualty evacuation, so ground
based fuel for wide ranging C2, air assault, and fire support helicopters wasn't
necessary.102
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