‘Zimbabwe vulnerable to drone warfare, losing best pilots due to poor salaries’- Parliament told

ZIMBABWE is vulnerable to modern drone warfare while losing its best pilots to foreign recruiters due to poor salaries, Defence Minister Oppah Muchinguri-Kashiri has warned.

“The new warfare, a $10,000 drone destroys $200 million worth of military equipment,” Muchinguri told Speaker of Parliament Jacob Mudenda in Bulawayo this Friday.

She cited Russia-Ukraine where 70% of casualties are caused by drones used for surveillance, precision strikes and psychological warfare.

“It’s not just countries, terrorists are also using drones for drug trafficking, smuggling gold and minerals.

“If we do not have equipment to bring down these drones, we are heading towards disaster. We are vulnerable.” Muchinguri-Kashiri warned.

She added that Zimbabwe was still thinking about helicopters and fighter jets while warfare has become cheaper and deadlier with AI, facial recognition and micro-killer drones.

“A small drone can come into this room and just kill one person, somewhere in South Africa, somewhere in Nigeria, can send a drone just to destroy and kill one person.”

The minister reported that the Air Force of Zimbabwe had lost almost 50% of its pilots to greener pastures because it costs over US$40,000 to train one pilot, but salaries are poor. Everyone comes to Zimbabwe to recruit.

“We need to protect them by paying them very well.” said the minister.

She stated that no funds existed for Zimbabwe Defence Forces (ZDF) modernisation, ICT equipment got only ZiG15m against ZiG34m bid (43%), and only ZiG125m was allocated for building maintenance against a ZiG1.6bn need (6%).

She also revealed ZiG97% of landmines have been cleared, with 3% remaining in areas like Rushinga where civilians are still losing limbs.

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