 The Portuguese forces were under the command of General António Augusto dos Santos , a man with strong faith in new counter @-@ insurgency theories . Augusto dos Santos supported a collaboration with Rhodesia to create African Scout units and other special forces teams , with Rhodesian forces even conducting their own independent operations during the conflict . Due to Portuguese policy of retaining up @-@ to @-@ date equipment for the <unk> while shipping obsolete equipment to the colonies , the Portuguese soldiers fighting in the opening stages of the conflict were equipped with World War II radios and the old <unk> rifle . As the fighting progressed , the need for more modern equipment was rapidly recognised , and the <unk> & Koch <unk> and <unk> <unk> rifles were adopted as the standard battlefield weapon , along with the <unk> @-@ 10 for paratroopers . The <unk> and , then in 1968 , the <unk> were the Portuguese general purpose machine guns , with 60 , 81 and 120 mm mortars , howitzers and the AML @-@ 60 , <unk> <unk> , Fox and <unk> armoured cars frequently deployed for fire support . 
