Background and independence The Zambian Defence Force had its roots in the
Northern Rhodesia Regiment, a
multi-ethnic military unit which was raised by the British colonial government and had served with distinction during
World War II. When the federation was dissolved three years later, the assets and personnel of its armed forces were integrated with those of its successor states, including Northern Rhodesia, which subsequently gained independence as Zambia. Zambia also inherited the command structures of the
Northern Rhodesia Regiment as well as the Northern Rhodesian Air Wing, which formed the basis for the new Zambian Army and Zambian Air Force, respectively. Reports that Rhodesian security forces had occupied
Kariba Dam prompted Zambian President
Kenneth Kaunda to mobilise the ZDF for the first time and deploy troops to the border. Nevertheless, military tension between the two nations remained high, and border incidents resulting in civilian deaths occurred. In November 1966, Rhodesian troops fired across the border and killed a Zambian woman on the north bank of the
Zambezi River. The increasing prospect of war with Rhodesia posed several unique security dilemmas for the ZDF. Around September 1967, Kaunda made two requests to the United States for equipment for the Zambian Army, including long-range
missile systems, but was rebuffed. More successful were Zambia's attempts to acquire its first combat aircraft, a number of
Aermacchi MB-326 and
SIAI-Marchetti SF.260s sourced from Italy; Guerrilla armies based in exile in Zambia included the
People's Liberation Army of Namibia (PLAN) as well as direct clashes with foreign troops carrying out preemptive strikes. The ZDF killed eleven ZANLA insurgents and later expelled that movement from Zambian soil. disaffected PLAN insurgents in Zambia launched a mutiny which became known as the "Shipanga Affair". The army was forced to marshal several battalions to subdue the dissidents. The DSC maintained a low level insurgency in Zambia's
North-Western and
Western Provinces. Mushala's guerrillas sabotaged infrastructure, skirmished with the ZDF, and collected intelligence on PLAN movements inside Zambia. They were trained by
South African Special Forces and instructors recruited from the Portuguese
Directorate-General of Security. In 1973, an army unit killed a hundred of the guerrillas by ambushing them as they attempted to cross the Zambezi near the Caprivi Strip. Under the UNIP, the ZNDF was not subject to public audit or parliamentary oversight. In 1977, the ZNDF bombarded Rhodesian positions near
Victoria Falls with rocket and mortar fire. It also assisted PLAN insurgents during a raid on a
South African military base in the
Caprivi Strip. and Rhodesia began targeting ZNDF outposts. Growing Zambian war weariness was a significant factor in Kaunda's influencing the guerrilla movements in Rhodesia to seek peace, resulting in a negotiated end to that conflict. At the same time, the ZNDF embarked on a 70 million kwacha modernisation program with assistance from the Soviet Union. The Soviets provided the Zambian Army with tanks, wheeled armored vehicles, and technical instruction on especially generous terms; the Zambian Air Force received its first fighter aircraft in the form of a
Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21 squadron at the same time. The ZNDF made it a policy to pursue RENAMO into neighbouring Mozambique in hot pursuit if necessary. The conspirators were detained before they could carry it out, but this temporarily jeopardised relations between the Zambian government and the army. The ZNDF remained heavily in debt with the former Soviet bloc for military equipment it had purchased in the 1980s, as well as interest accrued. Following mass protests over President Kaunda's decision to cut subsidies for maize meal and double maize prices in 1990, Captain Mwamba Luchembe single-handedly seized the national radio station and
announced a coup d'état. Kaunda's unpopularity led to demonstrations in support of Luchembe, however, and the same day the president announced he would seek a referendum on democratic multi-party elections. He gave President Chiluba an ultimatum of three hours to surrender or face death. ==Command==