Zimbabwe Military - 2024

Military and security forces

Zimbabwe Defense Forces (ZDF): Zimbabwe National Army (ZNA), Air Force of Zimbabwe (AFZ)

Ministry of Home Affairs: Zimbabwe Republic Police (2023)

Military expenditures

0.5% of GDP (2022 est.)
0.8% of GDP (2021 est.)
0.5% of GDP (2020 est.)
2.6% of GDP (2019 est.)
1.7% of GDP (2018 est.)

Military and security service personnel strengths

information varies; approximately 30,000 active-duty troops, including about 4,000 Air Force personnel (2023)

Military equipment inventories and acquisitions

the ZDF inventory is comprised mostly of Soviet-era and older Chinese equipment; since the early 2000s, Zimbabwe has been under an arms embargo from the EU, as well as targeted sanctions from Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the UK, and the US (2023)

Military service age and obligation

18-22 years of age for voluntary military service for men and women (18-24 for officer cadets; 18-30 for technical/specialist personnel); no conscription (2023)

Military - note

the ZDF’s primary responsibilities are protecting the country’s sovereignty and territory and securing its borders; it also has a considerable role in domestic security and has continued to be active in the country’s politics since the 2017 military-assisted political transition; the ZDF is part of the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) Standby Force and has provided troops to the SADC deployment to Mozambique; Zimbabwe has defense ties with China and Russia; the Army has approximately five light infantry brigades, plus brigades of mechanized infantry, presidential guards, special operations forces, and artillery; the Air Force has a few dozen operational Chinese- and Russian-made combat aircraft and helicopters 

the ZDF was formed after independence from the former Rhodesian Army and the two guerrilla forces that opposed it during the Rhodesian Civil War (aka "Bush War") of the 1970s, the Zimbabwe African National Liberation Army (ZANLA) and the Zimbabwe People's Revolutionary Army (ZIPRA); the ZDF intervened in the Mozambique Civil War (1983-1992), the Democratic Republic of Congo during the Second Congo War (1998-2003), and the Angolan Civil War (1975-2002) during the late 1990s (2023)