Editing Portuguese Armed Forces (section)

===Overseas conflicts===
{{Main|1961 Indian annexation of Goa|Portuguese Colonial War}}
[[File:AssaltonaMatadaSanga.jpg|300px|thumb|right|Portuguese paratroopers jump from an [[Alouette III]] helicopter in an air-mobile assault in Angola, in the early stages of the Overseas Wars]]
Between 1961 and 1974, the Portuguese Armed Forces would be engaged against emerging nationalist movements in several of the [[Portuguese Empire|Portuguese African provinces]]. These set of conflicts are collectively referred as the [[Portuguese Colonial War|Overseas War]] in Portugal. In the scope of the Cold War, it was a decisive ideological struggle and armed conflict in African (Portuguese Africa and surrounding nations) and Portuguese European mainland scenarios. Unlike other European nations, the [[Estado Novo (Portugal)|Portuguese regime]] did not leave its African overseas provinces during the 1950s and 1960s.<ref>{{cite web|title=PORTUGAL E OS VENTOS DA HISTÓRIA|url=http://www.guerracolonial.org/index.php?content=126|website=guerracolonial.org|publisher=Guerra Colonial :: 1961 – 1974|access-date=11 January 2015}}</ref> Several armed independence movements, most prominently led by [[communist parties]] who cooperated under the [[CONCP]] umbrella and pro US groups became active in these areas (especially in [[Portuguese Angola|Angola]], [[Portuguese Mozambique|Mozambique]] and [[Portuguese Guinea]]).<ref>{{cite web|title=MAPA DA GUERRA|url=http://www.guerracolonial.org/index.php?content=134|website=guerracolonial.org|publisher=Guerra Colonial :: 1961 – 1974|access-date=15 January 2015}}</ref>

The Portuguese Armed Forces were able to maintain a large [[military campaign]] for 13 years, in these three different theaters of operations, thousands of kilometers apart from each other and from the European mainland. This was achieved with almost no external support, in contrast with the nationalist movements which were backed by communist countries and even by some western ones. The Army suffered the majority of the casualties with 8290 soldiers killed in action while the Air Force lost 346 airmen and the Navy lost 195 sailors.

During the conflict, in each [[Theater (warfare)|theater of operations]], the operational command of the forces of the navy, army and air force was successively transferred from each territorial service branch command to joint commands, led by the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces in that specific theater. Thus the three branches of the military were able to achieve a high level of operational integration, allowing for an effective cooperation between them, the optimization of their scarce assets and the ability to fight as a single cohesive force. The [[military logistics|logistics]] side however was not able to reach such high levels of integration, mainly because each service branch continued to be administered by its own government department with its own [[supply chain]] and different standards.

Due to the nature of the conflict, [[commando]]-type forces achieved great importance. With the war's evolution, these assumed almost all of the mobile and offensive operations, with the more conventional forces remaining responsible mainly for the defensive assignments. By 1961, each service branch had created its own [[light infantry]] force oriented for asymmetric warfare. The Air Force created the [[Parachute Troops School|Parachute Rifles]] (''Caçadores Páraquedistas'') in 1956,<ref>{{cite web|title=PÁRA-QUEDISTAS|url=http://www.guerracolonial.org/index.php?content=320|website=guerracolonial.org|publisher=Guerra Colonial :: 1961 – 1974|access-date=11 January 2015}}</ref> the Army first raised the [[Special Operations Troops Centre|Special Rifles]] (''Caçadores Especiais'') in 1960<ref>{{cite web|title=CAÇADORES|url=http://www.guerracolonial.org/index.php?content=152|website=guerracolonial.org|publisher=Guerra Colonial :: 1961 – 1974|access-date=15 January 2015}}</ref> which were later replaced by the [[Portuguese Army Commandos|Commandos]] (''Comandos'')<ref>{{cite web|title=COMANDOS|url=http://www.guerracolonial.org/index.php?content=153|website=guerracolonial.org|publisher=Guerra Colonial :: 1961 – 1974|access-date=11 January 2015}}</ref> in 1962 and the Navy deployed the [[Portuguese Marine Corps|Marines]] (''Fuzileiros''), a force reactivated in 1961.<ref>{{cite web|title=FUZILEIROS|url=http://www.guerracolonial.org/index.php?content=155|website=guerracolonia.org|publisher=Guerra Colonial :: 1961 – 1974|access-date=11 January 2015}}</ref> The Portuguese military also counted with a number of [[Portuguese irregular forces in the Overseas War|paramilitary forces]], including the [[Special Groups (Portugal)|Special Groups]] (''Grupos Especiais'') and the [[Flechas|Arrows]] (''Flechas'').

The Portuguese Armed Forces were also involved in a brief conventional armed conflict with the Indian military, when the latter invaded the [[Portuguese India]] in December 1961. Facing overwhelmingly superior forces and after 36 hours of combat, the Portuguese India Commander-in-Chief, General [[Manuel António Vassalo e Silva|Vassalo e Silva]], surrendered to the [[Indian Armed Forces|Indian Forces]]. Portuguese forces suffered 30 dead and 57 wounded, with almost 3500 personnel being taken as [[prisoners of war]], these being released six months later. The Indian Armed Forces officially recognized to have suffered 76 casualties during the invasion.<ref name="Azaredo">{{cite web|url=http://www.goancauses.com/gabriel_figueiredo/|title=Passage to India – 18th December 1961|last=Azaredo|first=Carlos|author2=Gabriel Figueiredo (translation)|date=8 December 2001|website=Goancauses.com|access-date=20 February 2010|url-status=usurped|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101224100740/http://goancauses.com/gabriel_figueiredo/|archive-date=24 December 2010|df=dmy-all}}</ref>