The first supersonic interceptor operated by the air force was the Chinese-built Chengdu J-7/F7 Airguard, 12 of the II and IIN variants were delivered in 1986.

The No.2 AFZ Squadron deployed 12 BAe Hawk T.Mk.60/60As, which were used as strike-fighters and equipped with AIM-9B Sidewinder AAMs, Mk.82-series bombs, and Hunting BL.755 cluster-bomber units (CBUs), as well as launchers for unguided rockets.

However, the latter unit would soon play a significant role in the war in DRC, as it was only recently equipped with the newest addition to the AFZ: six Mi-35 helicopters (including two Mi-35Ps).

The first noted AFZ operation took place on 26 August 1998, where they destroyed a 5 km armoured column of rebels as they were approaching Kinshasa.

[6] After defeating the invaders in Kinshasa, the Zimbabweans, in the belief that Kabila's government was already safe, suggested that there was no need to continue the war, and peace should be negotiated.

A series of fierce battles were fought between 4 and 13 September 1998, during which the Angolan mechanised forces were finally able to deploy their full firepower.

It was in this area that the AFZ suffered its first documented loss of this war: on 4 September the Aermacchi SF.260 flown by wing commander Sharaunga crashed in bad weather, killing the pilot.

These units first targeted airfields in Gbadolite, Dongo and Gmena, and then rebel and Rwandan communications and depots in the Kisangani area, on 21 November.

With machine-guns and light infantry weapons as the only means of air defense, six ferries were sunk and 600 Burundi and Rwandan troops killed.

In a similar attack, on 7 December 1998, Zimbabwean planes or helicopters sank two rebel boats on Lake Tanganyika some 40 km north of Moba.

[7] In November 1998, it was reported that a $54 million shipment of helicopters, fighters and spotter aircraft had arrived in Zimbabwe to assist in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

There were only very few reports about the fighting in the next few days, probably because the Congolese, Zimbabwean and Angolan governments found themselves under heavy pressure from Western powers because of this offensive.

The few reports released from sources close to the rebels indicated Zimbabwean and Congolese attacks on Nuyuzu, Kasinge and towards Manono, supported by T-62 tanks and heavy artillery.

According to Zimbabwean reports the Hawks and F-7s continued their operations and made additional attacks against Kalemi on 24 November, and a new round of strikes against different airfields in eastern Congo two days late.

[8] When Congolese President Laurent Kabila was assassinated in early 2001, the Zimbabwean Air Force deployed five Chengdu J-7/F7 Airguard to Kinshasa to participate in a fly-past at the state funeral.

Unable to buy spare parts for the British designed and manufactured BAE Systems Hawk, in 2006 the air force received the first K-8.

[13] Between 2022 and 2023, the AFZ was able to restore more of its BAE Systems Hawks to service; a spokesman for the defense forces declined to comment on the circumstances of their refurbishment.