Zimbabwe Defence forces
Mauto eZimbabwe
Flag of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces
Founded	18 May 1980; 44 years ago (1980-05-18)
Service branches	Zimbabwe National Army  Air Force of Zimbabwe
Headquarters	Harare
Leadership
President	Emmerson Mnangagwa
Minister of Defence	Oppah Muchinguri
Chief of Defense	Philip Valerio Sibanda
Personnel
Conscription	N/A
Available for military service	5,500,000, age 15–49 (2017)
Fit for military service	3,175,000, age 15–49 (2017)
Reaching military age annually	310,000 (2017)
Active personnel	29,000 active[1] 21,800 paramilitary[1] (ranked 83rd)
Expenditure
Budget	$1.7 billion (2022)[2]
Percent of GDP	2.16% (2018)[2]
Industry
Foreign suppliers	Russia  China[3]
Related articles
History	Military history of Zimbabwe
Ranks	Military ranks of Zimbabwe

The Zimbabwe Defence Forces (ZDF) are the military forces responsible for the defence of Zimbabwe against external threats from other countries, and also to suppress internal armed factions. It is composed of the Zimbabwe National Army (ZNA) and the Air Force of Zimbabwe (AFZ). (As a landlocked country Zimbabwe does not have a navy). Since December 2017 the ZDF is headed by General Philip Valerio Sibanda.

In July 1994 the combined Zimbabwe Defence Forces Headquarters was created.

In 2007, the Zimbabwe National Army had an estimated strength of 29,000 and the Air Force of Zimbabwe had an estimated 4,000 men assigned.^[4]

After a 15-year guerrilla war with black nationalist forces, culminating in a peace agreement in December 1979, Robert Mugabe became the first Prime Minister of Zimbabwe on 11 April 1980 following his ZANU–PF party winning the general election. Mugabe declared that integrating Zimbabwe's three armed forces would be one of Zimbabwe's top priorities. The existing Rhodesian Army was combined with the two guerrilla armies; the 20,000-strong Zimbabwe African National Liberation Army (ZANLA) forces of ZANU–PF and the 15,000-strong Zimbabwe People's Revolutionary Army (ZIPRA) forces of PF-Zimbabwe African People's Union. A British Military Assistance and Training Team played a pivotal role in assisting the creation of the new army, and was still in place in 2000.^[5] Meanwhile the Rhodesian Air Force was reorganised as the Air Force of Zimbabwe.

The Mozambique Civil War was a long-running conflict between the Marxist FRELIMO Government, and anti-communist RENAMO insurgents. During the 1970's, Rhodesian intelligence supported the rebel group, but in the years following the election of Robert Mugabe in 1980, the Zimbabwe Defence Forces (ZDF) switched to support the FRELIMO Government, in order to protect Zimbabwe's eastern city of Mutare and the strategic railway line to Mozambique's port city of Beira which were being attacked by RENAMO.^[6]

In October 2017, the ZDF was involved in a coup d'état which resulted in the resignation of long-serving President Robert Mugabe and the formation of a new government under Emmerson Mnangagwa.^[7]

• "Zimbabwe". The World Factbook. Central Intelligence Agency. 4 May 2022.
• International Institute for Strategic Studies (15 February 2019). The Military Balance 2019. London: Routledge. ISBN 9781857439885.
• Reuters Report
• Central Intelligence Organisation
• https://www.enca.com/africa/full-statement-by-zim-army-on-state-broadcaster
• Operation Restore Legacy

• Abiodun Alao, 'The Metamorphosis of the Unorthodox: The Integration and Development of the Zimbabwe National Army' (chapter in book compiled by Terence Ranger, 'Soldiers in Zimbabwe's Liberation War'), 1995
• Norma J. Kriger, ‘Guerrilla Veterans in Post-war Zimbabwe: Symbolic and Violent Politics,’ 1980–1987, Cambridge UP, 2003
• Ministry of Defence - H/Q (2011). "The Zimbabwe Defence Forces: Resolute in defence of national gains, peace and security". Ministry of Defence. Retrieved 27 May 2022.

• Zimbabwe Ministry of Defence Archived 2006-10-04 at the Wayback Machine