It did not disclose the supplier or the price. But the aircraft appeared to be the K-8 advanced jet trainer, a Chinese copy of the British Aerospace Hawk, according to Michael Quintana, a former editor ofAfrica Defence Journal.
The Hawk was supplied toZimbabwe by Margaret Thatcher's government soon after independence in 1980. But the Labour government banned the sale of spare parts in 2000 in protest at human rights abuses.
"If the country had to save up for these, no wonder we are experiencing shortages of petrol," Mr Quintana said.
The K-8 has limited combat ability. But it has been supplied to the Namibian and Zambian air forces, Mr Quintana said.
The air force's acting director of operations, Builtin Chingoto, said on the radio that the fighters were meant to keep up with technology.
"They will go a long way to improve the operations of our air force in order to defend the country's airspace and territorial integrity," he said. "They will enable the force to deal with any challenges."
Mr Mugabe described Britain as "this enemy country" at the weekend and said he was continuing to wage what he called a chimurenga, or civil war, against the remaining 20,000 white Zimbabweans for control of natural resources, particularly land. Claiming a two-thirds majority in last month's elections, he said "the nation had mobilised through the ballot box to repulse imperialism".
