Every war the Air Force of Zimbabwe has fought
The Rhodesian air force of the Bush War and the guerrilla movements that now govern Zimbabwe describe the same raids in opposite terms: for Operation Gatling in October 1978 Rhodesia claimed 1,500 guerrillas killed, while ZAPU’s account describes 351 young people killed at a camp it calls a refugee site, and each figure is given with the side that makes it. Zimbabwe has not published its losses in the Congo, and the estimates given are Wikipedia’s. Where a consolidated sortie or loss figure exists in the official record it is given here; where accounts disagree, the range is shown and the disagreement named. Blank cells are blank because no figure could be verified, not because the fighting was small.
From No. 237 (Rhodesia) Squadron in East Africa in 1940 to the Congo in 1998–2002.
| Conflito | Anos | Contra | Aeronave principal | Missões | Aeronave perdida | |
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| Segunda Guerra MundialNo. 237 (Rhodesia) SquadronSouthern Rhodesia Air Force, absorbed into the RAF as No. 237 (Rhodesia) Squadron | 1939–1945 | Itália e Alemanha | ||||
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Army cooperation and later wider RAF service; Rhodesians also served in Nos. 44 and 266 (Rhodesia) Squadrons RAF. The Southern Rhodesia Air Force had existed for less than a year when, in April 1940, it was folded into the Royal Air Force as No. 237 (Rhodesia) Squadron and sent to the East African campaign against Italy. Rhodesian aircrew went on to serve across the RAF, concentrated enough in Nos. 44 and 266 Squadrons for both to carry the colony’s name. The larger contribution was the Rhodesian Air Training Group, which from 1940 to 1945 trained about 10,000 Commonwealth and Allied airmen at stations that included Thornhill, still the air force’s main training base. Resultado Allied victory. The colony’s training schools turned out about 10,000 aircrew for the Commonwealth. Based on Wikipedia’s summary of the published Rhodesian histories; individual squadron records were not checked.
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| Rhodesian Bush Warthe Second ChimurengaRoyal Rhodesian Air Force, from 1970 the Rhodesian Air Force | 1964–1979 | ZANLA (ZANU) and ZIPRA (ZAPU) | Hawker Hunter, English Electric Canberra, de Havilland Vampiree mais 5 | |||
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Close air support, Fireforce helicopter assault, paratroop transport, reconnaissance and cross-border strikes against ZANLA and ZIPRA. The air force fought the war under sanctions and with a ceiling of about 2,300 people and 150 pilots. Its Fireforce tactic — Alouette gunships and troop-carrying helicopters, with paratroops dropped from Dakotas — was the heart of Rhodesian counter-insurgency; Canberras flew photo reconnaissance and a Dakota nicknamed "Warthog" gathered electronic intelligence. From 1976 it struck guerrilla bases across the borders. After ZIPRA shot down the Air Rhodesia Viscount Flight 825 near Kariba on 3 September 1978 with an SA-7 missile, Rhodesia launched Operation Gatling (19–21 October 1978): eight Canberras, eight Hunters, four Alouette gunships, a Dakota and a Lynx attacked ZAPU’s Westlands Farm near Lusaka and camps at Mkushi and north of the city, while the strike leader, using the call sign "Green Leader", told Lusaka tower that Hunters would shoot down any Zambian fighter that took off. ZIPRA shot down a second Viscount, Flight 827, on 12 February 1979, killing all 59 aboard. Resultado Lancaster House agreement in December 1979, ceasefire on 21 December 1979, elections won by ZANU-PF and independence as Zimbabwe on 18 April 1980. The guerrilla movements and Rhodesia describe the same raids in opposite terms; casualty figures above are each party’s or a named historian’s, not independent counts.
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| Mozambican Civil Warthe Beira corridorAir Force of Zimbabwe | 1982–1992 | RENAMO | ||||
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Support of Zimbabwean ground forces fighting alongside FRELIMO against RENAMO, including operations against RENAMO’s Gorongosa bases. Zimbabwe intervened directly in 1982 to secure its transport routes to the sea, above all the Beira corridor, to stop RENAMO’s cross-border raids and to help its ally FRELIMO. Zimbabwean and FRELIMO forces mounted joint operations against RENAMO base camps in Gorongosa, and RENAMO’s headquarters in central Mozambique was taken in August 1985. Wikipedia’s AFZ article lists the Mozambican conflict among the air force’s engagements, but the sources checked do not describe which aircraft flew or what they did. Resultado No outcome specific to the air force is recorded in the sources checked; Zimbabwean involvement is dated 1982–1992 by Wikipedia. The air force’s role is thinly documented in accessible sources; details are left out rather than guessed.
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| Second Congo Warthe DRC warAir Force of Zimbabwe | 1998–2002 | RCD rebels, Rwanda and Uganda | BAE Hawk T.60/60A, Chengdu F-7, Hawker Huntere mais 6 | |||
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Air defence of Kinshasa, strikes on rebel columns and positions, transport and helicopter support for the Zimbabwean contingent. Zimbabwe entered the war in August 1998 under a SADC mandate to defend President Laurent Kabila against a rebellion backed by Rwanda and Uganda. The AFZ’s first recorded action, on 26 August 1998, was against a rebel armoured column approaching Kinshasa (BBC report cited on Wikipedia). It then flew Hawks with Sidewinders, Mk 82 bombs and BL755 cluster bombs, F-7s, and newly bought Mi-35s whose crews were trained by Russian instructors at Thornhill. Wikipedia, citing Tom Cooper’s ACIG database, describes AFZ strikes on ferries on Lake Tanganyika in late 1998 and repeats a claim that six were sunk and 600 Burundian and Rwandan troops killed; that figure is not independently confirmed. The army contingent peaked at about 12,000 in January 2001, and Zimbabwe spent 166 million US dollars in January–June 2000 alone. A UN expert panel reported on the illegal exploitation of Congolese resources in April 2001. Resultado Kabila’s government survived; Zimbabwe began withdrawing in 2002 and was out by the end of that year. Claims of enemy casualties come from one secondary source and are unverified; Zimbabwe has not published its losses.
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Cada número, verificado
Dados verificados em 01/10/2026. Back to the Air Force of Zimbabwe.