The Sud-Aviation (later Aérospatiale) SE.3160 Alouette III was the Portuguese Air Force’s main helicopter in the war in Africa. Portugal acquired a total of 142 Alouette IIIs between 1963 until 1974, and the majority saw service in Angola, Guinea and Mozambique. The basic AL-IIIs performed transport, heli-assault, and medical evacuation operations, and were often joined by an armed variant equipped with a door-mounted 20mm cannon. Portugal explored the notion of arming its Alouette IIIs with 2.75 in. rocket launchers in 1973, but these experiments never reached the operational stage. This helicopter is painted in an olive-green paint that reduced infrared emissions, intended to mitigate the risks posed by heatseeking surface-to-air missiles. (Artwork by Luca Canossa)