Air Force of Zimbabwe
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.
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 (http://www.scramble.nl/zw.htm)
- Aircraft details (http://www.worldairforces.com/Countries/zimbabwea/zim.html)
- News report about AFZ groundings (http://www.zwnews.com/print.cfm?ArticleID=1626)
- News report mentioning new aircraft (http://allafrica.com/stories/200307230576.html)
See also
| List of Aircraft | Aircraft Manufacturers | Aircraft Engines | Aircraft Engine Manufacturers Airlines | Air Forces | Aircraft Weapons | Missiles | Timeline of aviation |