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Zaire Air Force
The air force consists of approximately 1,800 personnel
and
provides close air support, aerial reconnaissance, and
transport
support for the other services. To accomplish this
mission, the air
force is organized into one fighter squadron, one
counterinsurgency
squadron, one transport wing, one helicopter squadron, and
a
training element.
The air force has had little opportunity to demonstrate
its
capability; however, during the 1977 Shaba invasion, the
air
force's combat performance was reportedly no better than
the
army's. Western observers reported that Zairian pilots
flying
Italian trainers as fighter-bombers were particularly
ineffective;
their munitions usually landed harmlessly wide of the
targets.
During Shaba II, the FLNC destroyed four Aermachi MB-326K
counterinsurgency aircraft, one Alouette helicopter, and
an SA-330
Puma helicopter on the ground when its forces captured the
airport
at Kolwezi. The Zairians attempted to use their Mirage
jets against
the rebels, but to little effect. More recently, four
Zairian air
force pilots died when their jets collided in mid-air
while
returning from military exercises at Kamina in 1988.
Several factors have affected air force capability.
Pilots are
often inadequately trained to fly their aircraft; even
when
trained, funding is normally insufficient to provide an
adequate
number of flying hours for the pilots to maintain their
proficiency. And because of poor maintenance over 75
percent of the
aircraft are often nondeployable. The air force's major
equipment
includes Mirage ground attack fighters; assorted
counterinsurgency
aircraft; a variety of transport aircraft; military
helicopters;
liaison aircraft; and training aircraft (see
table 18,
Appendix).
Future military requirements include additional transports
and
spare parts.
Data as of December 1993
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