The Zambian Defence Force (ZDF), consists of the Zambian Army, the Zambian Air Force, and the Zambia National Service (a non-combat service), and is tasked with ensuring the country’s national sovereignty, territorial integrity, and border security, as well as supporting multilateral peacekeeping missions.
While the ZDF is generally considered to be well-trained, its combat effectiveness is undermined by several factors. Much of the Army and Air Force’s equipment is either outdated or entirely obsolete, making maintenance particularly challenging. Indeed, much of the country’s military equipment has been rendered unserviceable as a result, a problem further compounded by a steady decline in real-terms defence spending over the past decade.
In an effort to maintain and restore some of the ZDF’s capabilities, the Zambian government has embarked on a moderate programme of force modernisation. However, due to budgetary pressures, these efforts have relied to a large extent on the support of several international actors, including the United States, China, and Russia. This support has mainly taken the form of funding, donations, and training.
The Zambian Air Force can be seen as the primary beneficiary of these efforts. While the force remains small, it has benefited from the addition of several new and second-hand aircraft, including UAVs, to its fleet in recent years, though it is still understood to suffer from high levels of unserviceability. Similarly to the Air Force, the Zambian Army’s equipment suffers from limited serviceability. However, the Army has seen an expansion in its capabilities through the acquisition of new Armoured Personnel Carriers (APCs) and a small number of self-propelled howitzer and mortar systems.
Despite these challenges, and despite the force’s relatively small size, the ZDF has continued to actively participate in numerous international peacekeeping operations. Its current largest deployment involves some 910 troops in the Central African Republic under the UN’s MINUSCA mission. Zambia has also contributed military personnel to several other UN missions, as well as to African Union and Southern African Development Community (SADC) operations in recent years.
Additionally, while Zambia is a landlocked state, it maintains a small maritime unit under the Army. This unit operates a limited number of patrol boats that assist in securing the country’s rivers and international borders, the Zambezi River, for example.
Notably, while the ZDF has not played a significant role in Zambia’s politics since the failed 1997 coup attempt, the current President, Hakainde Hichilema, promptly replaced the heads of the military and other security services following his election in 2021. His decision followed years of perceived complicity by the military and police under former President Edgar Lungu, who allegedly used the security services to target and harass opposition figures through arbitrary arrests and detentions. However, it remains unclear how effective this has been in enhancing the political neutrality of Zambia’s security forces.
