18 AFZ planes grounded Zimbabwe Independent Date posted:Fri 11-May-2001 Date published:Fri 11-May-2001
Back to previous page		Airforce falling apart Vincent Kahiya The Airforce of Zimbabwe (AFZ) is falling apart as a combination of international embargoes, foreign currency shortages and poor maintenance has immensely compromised Zimbabwe's air defences, military sources said this week. The Zimbabwe Independent was also told that untreated malaria has claimed the lives of more soldiers and airmen in the Congo than actual warfare. Military casualties from the DRC campaign, authoritative sources said, currently stand at 600. The figure of troops in the DRC has been variously put at between 9 000 and 12 000 men. But the Independent understands that following rebel attacks last year on Zimbabwean positions at Pweto, on the DRC's border with Zambia, the total went up to 16 000. The Zimbabwean authorities have kept a lid on Zimbabwe's losses in the DRC saying these would be revealed at the end of the war. However, it is the depletion of the airforce which has raised concerns among senior officers in the high command. It has been established that the AFZ has at least 18 planes out of service due to a shortage of spare parts while some have been lost in operations. These include three Lynx helicopters, two Alouette helicopters, and two Hind helicopter gunships. The AFZ's four British-made Hawk fighter planes are all grounded due to shortage of spare parts following an arms embargo imposed by Whitehall last year. Three F-7 fighter planes are believed to have crashed after being sent to the DRC to perform a fly past at the funeral of Laurent Kabila in January. The other planes which are not operational include an AB412 helicopter and two Cassa 212 transporters. Information at hands shows that as of January last year, the in-service fleet of the AFZ included 12 F-7 interceptors of which two were trainers, 11 Hunter fighters from the Rhodesian era, and 15 Cessna transporters. There were also 11 Hawks, 23 Alouettes, six SF260 TP and 23SF260M/W/F helicopters, and nine AB412s. The in-service fleet consists of planes that are due for service and those that still have flying hours. Most of the planes are on the ground as they cannot be flown without a service certificate. The servicing is being hampered by a shortage of spare parts. Sources said the operational figure was currently standing at three Hind helicopter gunships, one Cassa, one Lynx, six F-7s, one Alouette and four AB412s. There are also two AS532 Cougar helicopters used mainly by President Mugabe for his tours of the country. Military sources said the AFZ, once the envy of many African states, had slowly lost its shine. The AFZ was credited with successfully defending Kinshasa when Laurent Kabila's regime was subject to rebel attack in August 1998. "The Airforce of Zimbabwe successfully defended Kinshasa from the air and it is doubtful if Zimbabwe can perform that duty now," a defence specialist said. Sources said Zimbabwe had also suffered more manpower losses from disease than combat. They said the increase in malarial cases became manifest when the ZNA moved to the eastern front in 1999 where troops had to spend long periods in trenches in the equatorial jungle. There was increased risk of contracting the disease and fatalities went up due to erratic supplies of drugs. Rebel sources in the DRC have put the figure of malaria-related deaths among Zimbabwean soldiers at above 2 000 but a Red Cross official in Kinshasa this week said the figure was more likely to be about 1 000. This could not however be confirmed. Attempts to have malaria cases treated at South African military hospitals were unsuccessful because protocols with Pretoria covered only military casualties, the Independent has been told. The Independent also heard this week that Zimbabwe had purchased an Antonov 12 transporter from the Ukraine. Sources said Ukrainian pilots who usually flew military goods to the DRC from Zimbabwe were refusing to fly without payments upfront in foreign currency and Zimbabwe saw it prudent to buy a plane and fly it using AFZ officers. However, there are no spare parts or service records which normally accompany a purchase of this kind and the plane is likely to end up grounded.