A HIGH-POWERED delegation of army officers led by Air Drive of Zimbabwe (AFZ) Air Vice Marshall Biltim Chingono was in Pakistan this month to examine fashionable plane and armaments throughout a defence exhibition the place offers value hundreds of thousands of United States {dollars} have been sealed, the Zimbabwe Unbiased can reveal.
Chingono, alongside an elite group of AFZ and Zimbabwe Nationwide Army (ZNA) officers, have been in Karachi between November 15 and November 18, 2022, for the world-acclaimed Worldwide Defence Exhibition and Seminar (Concepts).
Over 30 contracts have been signed throughout the exhibition held within the Asian nation.
The highest world army exhibition, which showcases an array of superior armaments “gives an ideal interactive platform to defence forces and governments to entry the most effective merchandise and expertise to satisfy their safety and defence-related wants,” its web site states.
Organised by the Pakistan Defence Export Promotion Organisation, the worldwide arms exhibition has developed since its inception to be considered “a longtime rendezvous for convergence of worldwide defence exhibitors, delegates, safety analysts and top-level coverage planners”.
Regarding the Zimbabwean crew which attended the premier world army exhibition, Chingono was accompanied by Air Commodore Pio Maketo amongst different Air Drive officers as proof gleaned by the Unbiased exhibits.
The presence of the Zimbabwean high-level delegation in nuclear-armed Pakistan which neighbours India comes a yr after Mnangagwa’s official helicopter crash-landed as a result of a technical drawback whereas a number of the army unit’s aircrafts have been concerned in accidents.
Broadly, the accidents have been triggered by hostile climate, technical faults and in some circumstances human error.
Zimbabwe’s Air Drive, broadly considered the most effective within the area had a few of its plane broken and destroyed throughout the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) struggle from 1998-2002.
Zimbabwe’s pricey intervention within the struggle as a part of Operation Sovereign Legitimacy (Osleg) primarily meant to maintain at bay Western-sponsored rebels angling to topple the resource-rich nation’s chief Laurent Kabila.
Through the Karachi protection exhibition, which was attended by 524 arms producers from 44 international locations, which additionally included China, Russia and Belarus, the Chingono-led staff inspected a fleet of JF-17 plane and drones, amongst different armaments that have been on show elevating expectations that Zimbabwe would quickly place orders.
Safety and protection sources informed the Unbiased final week that Zimbabwe’s presence on the Concepts expo, which returned after a 4 yr Covid-19 induced hiatus indicated that “Harare’s short-term and long-term plans to steadily enhance its plane and armaments are in step with fashionable technological developments”.
Through the extremely subscribed army exhibition, the Zimbabwean staff additionally held conferences with the Pakistan Army Chief Basic Qamar Javed Bajwa.
As first revealed by this publication in 2020, Zimbabwe, reeling from Western-imposed sanctions is now predominantly procuring its armaments from Jap Europe and international locations in Asia together with Pakistan.
The USA (US) and European Union (EU) have since 2001 maintained sanctions on the Zimbabwe Defence Industries (ZDI), the nation’s arms producer.
To know whether or not the Southern African nation positioned orders to purchase armaments from the exhibiting producers and the first goal of the staff’s go to, questions despatched to the Zimbabwe Defence Forces (ZDF) Public Relations director Lieutenant Colonel Charles Mutes have been referred to the Air Drive.
Air Drive Wing Commander Donovan Muroyiwa stated he was “consulting” when the Unbiased requested him the identical questions.
Questions associated to the identical topic posed to Defence minister Oppah Muchinguri primarily meant to grasp whether or not Zimbabwe was contemplating strengthening its fleet of plane and armaments by acquisitions weren’t addressed earlier than going to press.
Questions despatched to organisers of the Concepts exhibition in Pakistan additionally drew blanks.
Leveraging on its motto “Alæ Præsidio Patriæ” which interprets to: “Our wings are the fortress of the nation,” Zimbabwe’s Air Drive has scored main victories in varied missions together with Mozambique and DRC. Inside Zimbabwe’s borders, it has been deployed to hold out life-saving evacuation operations.
The Pakistan exhibition showcased a big selection of army {hardware} which was categorized in 9 (9) distinct teams which included (i) weapons, ammunition, turret, (ii) autos, plane and drones, (iii)battlefield administration, (iv)coaching and simulation, (v)particular gear and engineering companies, (vi) industrial and logistic assist, (vii)naval ships and submarines, (vii)trade sectors, (ix) companies.
Beneath the arms, weapons and turrets class, exhibiting corporations displayed air defence programs, anti-tank wall breaching programs and shut defence weapons whereas the autos, plane and drone class showcased important battle tank variants, gentle armoured and un armoured autos and automobile engines and transmission programs.
In 2019, whereas on an official go to to Belarus the place Zimbabwe reportedly finalised offers value US$350 million spanning throughout varied sectors, Mnangagwa toured the Volat plant, often known as OJSC MZKT, that manufactures a variety of army {hardware} and straight falls below the State Army Industrial Committee.
At the moment, Volat indicated that the President was uncovered to a large spectrum of army {hardware}.
In October this yr, the federal government took supply of a specialised medical helicopter and ambulance from Russia, in a diplomatic gesture that demonstrated Harare and Moscow’s stable bilateral ties.
The 2020 Sipri report, which provided a uncommon glimpse into how Zimbabwe has bolstered its arsenal, highlighted that the southern African nation shelled US$647 million from 1980 to 2020 in declared arms purchases.
Strikingly, Sipri’s report exhibits that the US has not exported weapons to Zimbabwe for the reason that nation’s independence in 1980.
The safety think-tank’s report signifies that in 2000, Harare took supply of a fleet of six MI-24P fight helicopter gunships from Russia for US$22 million.
Earlier than 2000, when Zimbabwe nonetheless loved comparatively cordial relations with the West, Sipri’s report exhibits that the nation bought six (6) SF.260 jet plane from Italy in 1998 and 23 models of Almat APC (armoured personnel carriers) from France in 1996 at a cumulative price of US$15 million.
