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 have been grounded in recent years for lack of maintenance and spare parts.

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 two airbases, Gweru-Thornhill , and Manyame Air Base near Harare.

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

In April 2005, the AFZ announced that it was to aquire 6 Nanchang K-8 jet trainers, but no delivery date has been specified.

Current and future aircraft

• Chengdu FC-1 - lightweight multi-purpose fighter (12 claimed to be on order as of 2004, it is seen as a counter to the South African JAS 39C Gripen. The FC-1 is believed to be replacing the F-7)
• Nanchang K-8 - advanced jet trainer (6 to be delivered)
• Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-23 - multi-role fighter (2 seen in 2003 fly past)
• Chengdu F-7 II/N - fighter (only 6 of the 48 delivered is believed to be operational while 3 have reported to have crashed in January 2001)
• Guizhou FT-7BZ - conversion trainer (2)
• Hawk Mk60/A - advanced jet trainer (all 13 is believed to be grounded due to lack of spares)
• Hawker Siddley Hunter FGA.9 and T.81 - 11 remaining from the Rhodesian era
• SIAI SF260M/TP/W - basic trainer (6 belived to be operational out of 49 delivered)
• Boeing 720-025 - VIP transport (1 status unknown)
• BAe 146 - VIP transport (1)
• Yakovlev Yak-40 - VIP transport (3)
• Lockheed C-130 Hercules - transport aircraft (2 status unknown)
• Antonov An-12 - transport aircraft (1)
• CASA C212-200 - medium trasport aircraft (only 1 out of the 14 is belived operational)
• Britten-Norman BN-2A Islander - light utility aircraft (6)
• Cessna FTB.337G and O-2A - light utility aircraft (only 1 out of 23 delivered is belived to be operational, 3 where lost in operations in the DRC)
• Mil Mi-24 - assault helicopter (2 lost in operations in the DRC)
• Mil Mi-35 - assault helicopter (thought to 4 although only 3 seen in 2003 fly past)
• Aerospatiale AS532 Cougar - medium utility helicopters (2 used as presential helicopter)
• Agusta Bell AB412SP - light utility helicopter (only 4 belived to be operational out of the 12 delivered)
• Aerospatiale SE-316B Alouette III - light utility helicopter (only 1 is belived to be operational, 2 lost in operations in the DRC)

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 1902304055 includes an AFZ chapter

External links

• Description of AFZ
• Aircraft details
• News report about AFZ groundings
• News report mentioning new aircraft

See also

List of air forces