Zimbabwe splashes on new Chinese K-8 jets

Zimbabwe splashes on new Chinese K-8 jets

ZIMBABWE has acquired 12 K-8 trainer jets like the one above

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By Lebo Nkatazo

ZIMBABWE will splash US$240 million on 12 K-8 jet trainer aircraft from China, parliament heard Tuesday.

Six of the 12 aircraft are already in the country, with the remainder set to be delivered in two months, defence officials said.

Ministry of Defence Permanent Secretary Trust Maphosa made the revelations during a hearing of the joint Senate and House of Assembly Parliamentary portfolio committee on defence and home affairs.

Maphosa was part of a high powered army delegation that included army commander general Constantine Chiwenga and Airforce of Zimbabwe chief Air Marshall Perence Shiri.

The total cost of the deal with China was not revealed to Parliament but the military hardware website Strategy Page says the cost of a single K-8 -- an aircraft developed in a joint operation by China and Pakistan -- is US$20 million.

Defence officials could only reveal that a payment of US$4,6 million had been made to the Chinese manufacturers of the aircraft. They would not say how much was outstanding, or had already been paid.

Maphosa said: “We are grateful to the RBZ governor Gideon Gono for availing US$4 669 065,72 towards our plan. We will be receiving six aircraft from China sometime this year."

He added: “We are expecting that deliveries would be made in September or October. The six together with the other six we already have would make a full squadron."

Several western countries, notably Britain, have imposed an arms embargo on Zimbabwe over complaints about human rights violations in the southern African country.

President Robert Mugabe has reacted to the targeted sanctions on his regime by urging the country to 'Look East', reference to Asian countries which have pledged their support for his regime.

The army's extravagance at a time when the country is going through its worst economic crisis in history will alarm government critics. The country's inflation is almost 1000%, and unemployment tops 75 percent.

Chiwenga told the same hearing that the army was acting on reports of rampant indiscipline within its ranks. Several reports have been made of army details brutalising civilians.

Chiwenga blamed the violence on younger members of the defence forces whom he said “liked behaving as cowboys”.

He said the Military Police were carrying out a probe on the recent assaults on commuter omnibus drivers and touts by members of his force in Harare Central Business District (CBD).

He added that another army commander in Matabeleland had been transferred and disciplined after assaulting a civilian who had missed a deadline during joint work on Operation Maguta.

K-8 FACT FILE:

The $20 million K-8 advanced jet trainer has been jointly designed and produced by the Pakistan Aeronautical Complex (PAC), Kamra and China's Nanchang Aircraft Manufacturing Company (NAMC) and is manufactured at NAMC.

The jet provides basic training for A-5 and F-5, advanced training for F-7, F-8, 16 and F-18, air-to-air and air-to-ground weapon delivery, spin and other aerobatic flights, taking off and landing training and close support on ground strike.

The K-8 is a tandem-seat advanced jet trainer (AJT) with a low-set, unswept wing which has been co-produced by Pakistan and China. It first flew in 1991.

The K-8 can also be armed with air-to-air missiles for the airfield defence.

The K-8 first flew in January 1991, powered by TFE 731-2A turbofan. The K-8 project was hampered by the US Government's refusal to sell more TFE-731-2A turbofans following the 1989 Chinese crackdown on pro-democracy forces. China turned to the Ukrainian AI-25TLK, while working to perfect its own engine.

It is also equipped with a ROCKWELL Collins flight instrumentation system, with two displays in the front and two in the rear cockpit.

The aircraft apart from being used as a trainer, can also be used for: (i) supplementary low level air base defence with 2 sidewinders; (ii) tactical armed reconnaissance; (iii) and ground attack armed AOP with four 250 lb. bombs or rockets

Armament: 2,080 lb. (945 kg) equivalent. One 23mm cannon under centre-fuselage, with self-computing optical gunsight in cockpit. 4 hardpoints - two external stores points under each wing - capable of carrying gun pods, rocket pods, bombs, missiles, auxiliary fuel tanks (inboard pair only), or a reconnaissance pod.
(Facts provided by Strategypage.com and Defencetalk.com)

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