Defence Force of Zambia | |
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Founded | 24 October 1964 |
Service branches | Zambian Army Zambian Air Force Zambia National Service |
Leadership | |
Commander-in-chief | Hakainde Hichilema |
Minister of Defence | Ambrose Lufuma |
Personnel | |
Available for military service | 2,477,494, age 15–49 (2004 est.) |
Fit for military service | 1,310,814, age 15–49 (2004 est.) |
Reaching military age annually | (2004 est.) |
Active personnel | 15,150 (2022)[1] |
Expenditure | |
Budget | $283 million (2023) |
Percent of GDP | 1.3 (2023) |
Related articles | |
History | Rhodesian Bush War South African Border War Mozambican Civil War Capture of Lubumbashi |
Ranks | Military ranks of Zambia |
The Zambian Defence Force is the military of Zambia. It consists of the Zambian Army, the Zambian Air Force, and the Zambia National Service.[2] The defence forces were formed at Zambian independence on 24 October 1964, from constituent units of the dissolved Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland Armed Forces.[3] During the 1970s and 1980s, it played a key role in a number of regional conflicts, namely the South African Border War and Rhodesian Bush War.[4] Being a landlocked country Zambia has no navy, although the Zambian Army maintains a maritime patrol unit for maintaining security on inland bodies of water.[5]