Reims Cessna FTB337G Lynx "Bush War"

Llightweight, two-engine multipurpose airplane. The Super Skymaster 337, created by Cessna in the US, was built under license in France in the mid-1960s. With the onset of the conflict in Southern Rhodesia, a small number of planes of this type were purchased for use in the anti-partisan war being conducted by the Government of the country, and since 1976 they were actively used in the final stages of the conflict against the insurgents as a light assault platform, bomber, troop carrier, intelligence and fire control aircraft. The airplane could carry a fairly large range of various weapons on the pylons under the wing, including napalm containers, cluster bombs, and unguided rocket pods. The Lynx was used with great success, but after the cessation of the conflict, its former pilots were forced to leave the newly established country of Zimbabwe forever; and the airplanes themselves, after transfer to the UPU of Zimbabwe, were completely decommissioned by the mid 80's except for for one machine used for transport up until 1998.