Air Force of Zimbabwe

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The Air Force of Zimbabwe (AFZ) is the air force of Zimbabwe. It was known as the Rhodesian Air Force until 1980.

At one point the air force was well respected, having been credited with helping defend Kinshasa in 1998, but most planes of Western origin have been grounded in recent years for lack of spare parts due to the EU arms embargo. The air force has reduced its reliance on Western arms and has acquired Chinese K-8 trainers to replace the aging BAe Hawks. Testimony to the quality training of the AFZ is the fact the South African Air Force has turned to Zimbabwean instructors to meet its needs.

The air force has Hawker Hunters, BAE Hawks, and Chinese Chengdu F-7 interceptors, as well as a variety of helicopters. Total personnel is estimated at about 5,000 in 1999, and there are three main airbases, Gweru-Thornhill, Manyame Air Base near Harare and Field Air Base near Chegutu. There are also several military airfields around the country.

In July 2003 the AFZ demonstrated recently-acquired MiG-23 jets and Mi-35 helicopter gunships.

Contents

[edit] Current and future aircraft

  • Mil Mi-35P - assault helicopter (thought to be 4 although only 3 seen in 2003 fly past)
  • Aerospatiale AS532 Cougar - medium utility helicopters (2 used as presidential helicopters)
  • Agusta Bell AB412SP - light utility helicopter, some were armed with rockets for the DRC conflict. (only 4 believed to be operational out of the 12 delivered)
  • Aerospatiale SE-316B Alouette III - light utility helicopter (only 1 is believed to be operational, 2 were lost in operations in the DRC most of them were repaired in 2005 before the air show and 4 participated during the air show in 2005)

[edit] Integrated air defence system

Zimbabwe's integrated air defence system (see External links) has at least two CEIEC 408-C radars providing long-range air surveillance coverage from the ground, serving as prime sensor. They are able to detect targets at up to 600km. They are complemented by some gap-filler radars including the JY-9 Radar with a range of up to 150 km.

Zimbabwe is reported to have received some HQ-2 surface-to-air missiles. These can engage at over 30km.

[edit] Rank Structure

The AFZ's rank structure is similar RAF's rank structure from where, via the Rhodesian Air Force, its ranks were derived.

[edit] Officers

In descending order of importance the AFZ officer ranks are:

[edit] Airmen

In descending order of importance the AFZ airman ranks are:

[edit] Women aircrew

In 1986 the first women were accepted for pilot training.

[edit] Reference

  • Roy Nesbit and Dudley Cowdery with Andrew Thomas, Britain's Rebel Air Force: The War from The Air In Rhodesia 1965-1980 (Grub Street, 1998) ISBN 1-902304-05-5 includes an AFZ chapter

[edit] External links

[edit] See also

List of air forces

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