The Sumbe raid in March 1984, along with the fall of Cangamba and Cazombo, made Cuba and the Soviet Union re-evaluate the threat UNITA posed. Determined to defeat this insurgent group, offensives were launched later that year. This marked a conventional turn for the conflict, bringing in larger amounts of troops and equipment to the fight. While all this was happening, UNITA slowly began planting the seeds for its insurgency in northern Angola. Sources used:

• Adrien Fontanellaz's, Tom Cooper's, and José Augusto Matos' "War of Intervention in Angola: Volume 3 - Angolan and Cuban Air Forces, 1975-1985"
• John Turner's "Continent Ablaze: The Insurgency Wars in Africa 1960 to the Present"
• Edward George's "The Cuban Intervention in Angola 1965-1991 From Che Guevara to Cuito Cuanavale"
• Stephen Weigert's "Angola: A Modern Military History, 1961-2002"