| Myanmar Air Force | |
|---|---|
| တပ်မတော် (လေ) (Burmese) | |
.svg){kind=icon} .svg){kind=icon} Cap badges | |
| Founded | 15 January 1947; 78 years ago (1947-01-15) |
| Country |  Myanmar |
| Type | Air force |
| Size | |
| Part of |  Tatmadaw |
| Nickname | Tatmadaw (Lay) |
| Anniversaries | 15 December 1947 |
| Engagements | Internal conflict in Myanmar |
| Commanders | |
| Commander-in-Chief of Myanmar Armed Forces |  Senior GeneralMin Aung Hlaing |
| Minister of Defence |  GeneralMg Mg Aye |
| Commander-in-Chief of the Air Force |  GeneralHtun Aung |
| Insignia | |
| Roundel |  |
| Fin flash |  |
| Ensign |  |
| Aircraft flown | |
| Attack | A-5C,FTC-2000G,CH-3A, CH-4 |
| Fighter | MiG-29SM/USM,Su-30SME,JF-17/JF-17B Block 2 |
| Helicopter | Mi-2,Mi-17,Mi-38,Ka-28,UH-1,Bell 206,Alouette III,W-3 |
| Attack helicopter | Mi-35P |
| Trainer helicopter | EC120,H125 |
| Interceptor | F-7IIK |
| Patrol | BN-2 |
| Reconnaissance | DART-450, MTX-1 |
| Trainer | Yak-130,K-8W,FT-7,G-4,G 120TP,HJT-16,PC-7,PC-9 |
| Transport | Y-8,Y-12,Beechcraft 1900,ATR 42,ATR 72,Fokker 70,PC-6 |
TheMyanmar Air Force (Burmese:တပ်မတော် (လေ),romanized: Tatmadaw (Lay),lit. 'Armed Forces (Air Force)',pronounced[taʔmədɔ̀(le)]) is the aerial branch of theTatmadaw, the armed forces ofMyanmar. The primary mission of the Myanmar Air Force (MAF) since its inception has been to provide air bases force protection, anti-aircraft warfare, close air support (CAS), logistical, and transport to theMyanmar Army in counterinsurgency operations.[2] It is mainly used ininternal conflicts in Myanmar, and, on a smaller scale, in relief missions,[3] especially after the deadlyCyclone Nargis of May 2008.
The Myanmar Air Force (MAF) was formed as theBurmese Air Force on 16 January 1947, whileBurma (asMyanmar was known until 1989) was still underBritish rule. By 1948, the fleet of the new air force included 40Airspeed Oxfords, 16de Havilland Tiger Moths, fourAusters, and threeSupermarine Spitfires transferred from theRoyal Air Force, and had a few hundred personnel.[2]
The Mingaladon Air Base HQ, the main air base in the country, was formed on 16 June 1950. No.1 Squadron, Equipment Holding Unit and Air High Command - Burma Air Force, and the Flying Training School, were placed under the jurisdiction of the base. A few months later, on 18 December 1950, No. 2 Squadron was formed with nineDouglas Dakotas as a transport squadron. In 1953, the Advanced Flying Unit was formed under the Mingaladon Air Base withde Havilland Vampire T55s, and by the end of 1953 the Burmese Air Force had three main airbases, atMingaladon,Hmawbi, andMeiktila, in central Burma.[2]
In 1953, the Burmese Air Force bought 30Supermarine Spitfires fromIsrael and 20Supermarine Seafires from theUnited Kingdom, and in 1954 it bought 40Percival Provost T-53s and 8de Havilland Vampire Mark T55s from theUnited Kingdom. In late 1955, the Burmese Air Force formed a Maintenance Air Base in Mingaladon, No. 501 Squadron Group (Hmawbi Airbase) and No. 502 Squadron Group (Mingaladon Air Base). In 1956, the Burmese Air Force bought 10Cessna 180 aircraft from theUnited States. The same year, 6Kawasaki Bell 47Gs formed its first helicopter unit. The following year, the Burmese Air Force procured 21Hawker Sea Fury aircraft from theUnited Kingdom and 9de Havilland Canada DHC-3 Otters fromCanada. In 1958, it procured 7 additional Kawasaki Bell 47Gs and 12Vertol H-21 Shawnees from theUnited States.[2] Five years later, No. 503 Squadron Group was formed with No. 51 Squadron (de Havilland Canada DHC-3 Otters andCessna 180s) and No. 53 Squadron (Bell 47Gs,Kaman HH-43 Huskies, andAérospatiale Alouettes) inMeiktila.[2]
On 15 February 1961, an unmarkedRepublic of China Air ForceConsolidated PB4Y Privateer came into Burmese air space carrying supplies for ChineseKuomintang forces fighting in northern Burma, and was intercepted by threeHawker Sea Fury fighters of the Burmese Air Force. The intruding bomber and one Burmese fighter crashed inThailand during the incident.[4] On 17 February, a team from Burmese 9th Front Brigade left for the crash site. A 12.7mm bullet was fired into the fuselage of UB-466, hitting pilot officer Peter as well,[clarification needed] breaking five of his ribs. Peter was recorded in the history of Burmese Air Force as an airman who gave his life for the country and the people.[5]In 1962, a new radar station in Mingaladon and a mobile radar station in Lwemwe (near Tachileik) were put into operation. By December 1964, the Burmese Air Force had 323 officers and 5,677 other ranks and it acquiredLockheed T-33 Shooting Star jet trainers and a new radar station, which could operate within a 120-mile (193-km) radius, was opened inNamsang. In 1966, the radar arm of the air force underwent a complete overhaul and upgrade, with new radar stations being operated. The Namsang Radar station was upgraded to cover about a 200-mile (322-km) radius and renamed No.71 Squadron. In the same year, the Burmese Air Force formed the No. 1Airborne Battalion with 26 officers and 750 other ranks.[citation needed]
On 1 January 1967, the Burmese Air Force reorganized its command structure. No. 501 Squadron Group inHmawbi became No. 501 Air Base HQ; No. 502 Squadron Group in Mingalardon became No. 502 Air Base HQ; and No. 503 Squadron Group inMeiktila became No. 503 Air Base HQ in Meiktila. It also maintained airfield detachments inLashio andKengtung to cope with the insurgency ofCommunist Party of Burma in the northeast border region of the country.[2]
In 1975, the Burmese Air Force took delivery of 18Bell 205A and sevenBell 206B helicopters from the United States under the International Narcotic Control Program (INCP). In March 1975, it bought 20SIAI-Marchetti SF.260 trainers fromItaly.[2]
Between 1976 and 1987, the Burmese Air Force bought sevenPilatus PC-6 Turbo porter STOL aircraft; and 16Pilatus PC-7 and 10Pilatus PC-9 turboprop trainers fromSwitzerland. These aircraft were deployed inLashio for close air support in counter-insurgency operations.[2]
In 1989, the Burmese Air Force was renamed the Myanmar Air Force in accordance with the country changing its name fromBurma toMyanmar.
In the early 1990s, the Burmese Air Force upgraded its facilities and introduced two new air base headquarters and existing air base headquarters were renamed. It also significantly upgraded its radar and electronic warfare facilities. The Burmese Air Force bought more than 100 aircraft from thePeople's Republic of China, which includedF7 IIK interceptors,FT-7 trainers,A-5C ground attack aircraft,FT-6M trainers,K-8 trainers andY-8 transport aircraft.
By 2000, the Myanmar Air Force had received 62F7 IIK interceptors fromChina.[2] Assistance fromIsrael was sought to refurbish and upgrade all operationalF-7s and FT-7s: these were to get theEltaEL/M-2032 air-to-air radar,[6][unreliable source?]Rafael Python Mk. III and evenLitening laser-designator pods. The same equipment was then installed on the two-seater FT-7 fighter trainers as well. In a related deal, Israel transferred at least one consignment of laser-guided bombs, but no deliveries of any other weapons are known.[citation needed] Since theElbit contract was won in 1997, the air force had acquired at least one more squadron of F-7 and FT-7 aircraft from China, but these were not upgraded.
Between 1992 and 2000, the Myanmar Air Force took delivery of 36A-5C ground attack aircraft. In addition, the Myanmar Air Force also bought 20Soko G-4 Super Galeb armed jet trainers fromYugoslavia in 1991, but only approximately 6 aircraft were delivered due to the breakup of Yugoslavia.
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The Myanmar Air Force procured a range of helicopters fromRussia andPoland between 1991 and 1997; it bought 20 PZL-SwidnikMil Mi-2 and 13PZL W-3 Sokol helicopters from Poland and 13Mil Mi-17 fromRussia. These helicopters were put into counter-insurgency operations against ethnic rebels in theIrrawaddy River delta. FourMil Mi-2, fourPZL W-3 Sokol, and twoBell 205 helicopters were grouped as an air detachment stationed inBogalay for "Operation Monediang" in October 1991. During this operation, Mil Mi-2 helicopters were fitted with a wide range of weapons to provide ground attack and air cover for heliborneair assault operations. Four Mi-2s of the air detachment made a total of 80 sorties over 17 targets with nearly 82 flying hours. Four PZL W-3 Sokol helicopters, unarmed and used for troop transport carrying 20 airborne commandos, each flew 443 missions with 197 flying hours.Bell 205 helicopters carried outsearch and rescue, and they flew 263 missions with over 114 flying hours.[2]
In 2001, the Myanmar Air Force bought 12MiG-29 fighter aircraft (10 MiG-29Bs and two MiG-29UB two seats trainers)[2] fromBelarus. This was followed by an additional order of 20 MiG-29 (10 MiG-29B, 6 MiG-29SE and 4 MiG-29UB) as part of a $570 million defence package in December 2009. 10 MiG-29B were upgraded to SM (mod) standard in 2017.[7] The air force also ordered 10Mil Mi-35 gunship helicopters as part of a $71 million defence package signed in December 2009.[8]
Despite these modernisation measures, the capability of the Myanmar Air Force remained questionable, due to its absence during theBattle of Border Post 9631 withThailand and the rescue missions related toCyclone Nargis in May 2008.[citation needed]
A contract had been signed in December 2015 withPakistan for the purchase ofJF-17 Thunder multirole fighter, which was jointly developed byChengdu Aircraft Industry Group andPakistan Aeronautical Complex, to Myanmar Air Force. However, in March 2018 it was reported that the deal for the purchase of JF-17 Thunder has been suspended by Pakistan.[9] However, four JF-17 Block-IIs were seen at Air Force Day celebrated in December 2018. Under a bilateral contract, the MAF ordered sixSu-30SM fighters fromRussia in 2018.[10]
Since themilitary coup in February 2021, Myanmar Air Force aircraft have been used in airstrikes on villages,[11] killing noncombatant civilians including elders, humanitarian workers and children while forcing thousands of others to flee their homes.[citation needed]
On 11 April 2023, the Myanmar air force conducted a relentless airstrike on Pazigyi village in Kantbalu Township, Sagaing Region, killing at least 100 people, including children. This was the junta's deadliest airstrike after the coup. The attack targeted an opening ceremony of a local administration office.[12] The junta spokesperson reasoned that high casualties were due to the secondary explosion of munitions stored in the area. However, ground sources confirmed that most of the casualties are civilians, including children. The airstrike was conducted by a fighter jet and later by a Mi-35 gunship.[13]
On the morning of January 7, 2024, the Myanmar Air Force conducted an airstrike on Kanan village, Tamu Township, Sagaing Region, hitting a civilian area, with bombs landing near St Peter Baptist Church and a nearby school compound while residents were gathered for Sunday service. The strike killed at least 17 civilians, including nine children, and injured over 20 people.[14][15]
On 12 May 2025, Myanmar air force carried out an airstrike on Ohe Htein Twin village inTabayin Township, Sagaing Region, that struck a school building. According to local resistance members, aid workers, and media reports, the attack killed up to 20 students and two teachers, and wounded dozens of other draftees. The incident occurred in the morning and added to the mounting civilian toll of the conflict in central Myanmar.[16]
On 25 August 2025, Myanmar’s air force carried out an airstrike on the Daing Kyi quarter ofMrauk-U, a historic town in Rakhine State known for its temples and pagodas. The attack killed at least 12 people, including children, according to the Arakan Army (AA), which has controlled the town since January 2024.[17]
On 12 September 2025, Myanmar’s air force conducted an airstrike on a private boarding school in Thayat Tabin village,Kyauktaw Township, Rakhine State. According to local media and residents, two 500-pound bombs struck the Pyinnya Pan Khinn High School and its surroundings at around 1 a.m., killing 22 people, most of them students.[18] Kyauktaw town has been under the control of the Arakan Army since January 2024.[19]
Commander-in-Chief and Chief of Air Staff of Myanmar Air Force in chronological order:
| ID | Rank | Name | Serial |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Wing Commander | Saw Shi Sho | BAF1020 |
| 2 | Major | Tommy Clift (T. Clift) | BAF1005 |
| 3 | Lieutenant Colonel | Thura Selwyn James Khin | BAF1009 |
| 4 | Brigadier General | Thura Tommy Clift | BAF1005 |
| 5 | Brigadier General | Thaung Dan | BAF1042 |
| 6 | Major General | Thura Saw Phyu | BAF1047 |
| 7 | Major General | Ko Gyi | BAF1059 |
| 8 | Lieutenant General | Tin Tun | BAF1127 |
| 9 | Lieutenant General | Thein Win | BAF1193 |
| 10 | Lieutenant General | Tin Ngwe | BAF1312 |
| 11 | Lieutenant General | Kyaw Than | BAF1334 |
| 12 | Major General | Myint Swe | BAF1587 |
| 13 | General | Myat Hein | BAF1682 |
| 14 | General | Khin Aung Myint | BAF1754 |
| 15 | General | Maung Maung Kyaw | BAF1925 |
| 16 | General | Htun Aung | BAF1982 |
The rank insignia ofcommissioned officers.
| Rank group | General / flag officers | Senior officers | Junior officers | |||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Myanmar Air Force |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  | ||||||||||||
| ဗိုလ်ချုပ်မှူးကြီး bauilaʻ khayupaʻ mahūʺkarīʺ | ဒုတိယ ဗိုလ်ချုပ်မှူးကြီး dautaiya bauilaʻ khayupaʻ mahūʺkarīʺ | ဗိုလ်ချုပ်ကြီး bauilaʻ khayupaʻ karīʺ | ဒုတိယ ဗိုလ်ချုပ်ကြီး dautaiya bauilaʻ khayupaʻ karīʺ | ဗိုလ်ချုပ် bauilaʻ khayupaʻ | ဗိုလ်မှူးချုပ် bauilaʻ mahūʺkhayupaʻ | ဗိုလ်မှူးကြီး bauilaʻ mahūʺkrīʺ | ဒုတိယ ဗိုလ်မှူးကြီး dautaiya bauilaʻ mahūʺ krīʺ | ဗိုလ်မှူး bauilaʻ mahūʺ | ဗိုလ်ကြီး bauilaʻ krīʺ | ဗိုလ် bauilaʻ | ဒုတိယ ဗိုလ် dautaiya bauilaʻ | |||||||||||||
The rank insignia ofnon-commissioned officers andenlisted personnel.
| Rank group | Senior NCOs | Junior NCOs | Enlisted | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Myanmar Air Force |  |  |  |  |  |  | No insignia | No insignia | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| အရာခံဗိုလ် ’araākhaṃ bauilaʻ | ဒုတိယအရာခံဗိုလ် dautaiya ’araākhaṃ bauilaʻ | အုပ်ခွဲတပ်ကြပ်ကြီး aupaʻ khavai tapaʻ karpaʻ karīʺ | တပ်ကြပ်ကြီး tapaʻ karpaʻ karīʺ | တပ်ကြပ် tapaʻ karpaʻ | ဒုတိယတပ်ကြပ် dautaiya tapaʻ karpaʻ | တပ်သား tapaʻ saāʺ | တပ်သားသစ် tapaʻ saāʺ sacaʻ | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Myanmar Air Force also utilised civilian airfields as front-line air fields in case of foreign invasion.
The Office of the chief of Air Defence is one of the major branches of theTatmadaw. It was established as the Air Defence Command in 1997 but was not fully operational until late 1999. It was renamed the Bureau of Air Defence in the early 2000s.In early 2000s, the Tatmadaw established the Myanmar Integrated Air Defence System (MIADS) with help fromRussia,Ukraine andChina. It is a tri-service bureau with units from all three branches ofMyanmar Armed Forces. All Air Defence assets except Anti-Aircraft Artillery are integrated into MIADS.[20]
| Name | Origin | Type | Notes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Air-to-air missile | ||||||
| PL-2 | China | Air to air missile | 340 missiles obtained[33] | |||
| PL-5 | China | Air to air missile | 200 missiles obtained[34] | |||
| PL-12 | China | Air to airBVR missile | 60 missiles obtained[34] | |||
| R-27 | Russia | Air to airBVR missile | 100 missiles obtained[34] | |||
| R-73 | Russia | Air to airShort range IR Missile | 285 missiles obtained[34] | |||
| Anti-ship missile | ||||||
| YJ-83 | China | 30 missiles obtained[33] | ||||
| Aerial bomb | ||||||
| LY-502 | China | unknown[35] | ||||
The Air Force has several radar installations including the three-dimensional surveillanceYLC-2 Radar, theP-37Early-warning radar system, theJLP-40 defensive radar, and the GalaxyEWR system, which is linked withIntegrated Air Defence office.[20][36][37][38][39][33]
Myanmarnational insignia (white triangle with yellow field in the centre and borders in blue) is usually applied on six positions. The serialling system of Myanmar Air Force aircraft is suggested to serve as both – unit and individual aircraft identity, this could not be confirmed so far, however. Most of the older aeroplanes carried the serials with the prefix "UB" and the numbers in Burmese. Sometimes the serials were outlined in white. Combat aircraft generally carry serials in black.
On 24 January 1980, a Burma Air ForceFH-227 crashed when an engine failed shortly after take-off, killing all but one of the 44 people on board. One person on the ground was injured.[40]
On 11 June 2014, aMiG-29UB caught fire and crashed on to farmland nearMyothit township ofMagway at 8:30 a.m. (local time). The two pilots safely ejected.[41][42][43]
On 10 February 2016, aBeech 1900 aircraft crashed after taking off fromNaypidaw Airport, killing 5 military personnel.[44]
On 14 June 2016, anMil Mi-2 helicopter crashed near theYangon–Mandalay Expressway at being refueled at theTaungngu airbase, killing three military servicemen on board.[45]
2017 Myanmar Air Force Shaanxi Y-8 crash: On 7 June 2017, aShaanxi Y-8 was reported missing 30 nautical miles (56 km) west toDawei. The aircraft was carrying 122 people. There were no survivors.
On 3 April 2018, an F-7 fighter aircraft of Taungoo Air Base crashed into a farm near KyunKone Village inTaungoo. The aircraft was on a training route during the crash while trying to land the ground at around 11:30 am, killing its pilot.[46]
On 16 October 2018, two F-7Ms crashed nearMagway,Myanmar, killing both pilots and a civilian on the ground. Both aircraft struck a broadcast tower. One plummeted into a rice paddy, while the other nose-dived near a Buddhist pagoda in theMagway region of central Myanmar.[47]
On 3 May 2021, one Mi-35 helicopter was shot down near the town ofMoemauk in Kachin province by theKachin Independence Army in response to the MAF's air raid. There was no confirmation from the MAF nor theKIA on which AA system was used by the KIA in the incident.[48][49]
On 11 June 2021, aBeechcraft 1900 crashed on its landing approach toPyin Oo Lwin's airport, killing 12 people including a senior Buddhist monk, the abbot of Zay Kone Monastery inPyinmana.[50]
On 16 February 2022, an A-5 ground-attack jet crashed near Ohn Taw village inSagaing Region.[51]
On 29 March 2022, anMi-17 helicopter crashed and injured five people on board nearHakha,Chin State.[52]
On 11 November 2023, a K-8W trainer aircraft of the Myanmar Air Force crashed inHpruso Township,Karenni State. Local rebels claimed to have shot it down, while the Myanmar Air Force claimed that it was a mechanical failure, and the pilot was later captured.[53]
On 3 January 2024, an Mi-17 was shot down by theKachin Independence Army usingFN-6 MANPADS in Waimaw Township,Kachin State, killing all seven people on board.[54]
On 16 January 2024, theKachin Independence Army successfully shot down an FTC-2000G trainer/fighter of the Myanmar Air Force in the Namhpatkar area ofnorthern Shan State.[55]
In January 2024, a Myanmar Air Force Y-8 on a mission to evacuate troops who had sought refuge inMizoram,India, overshot its landing inLengpui Airport. There were no deaths but the plane was badly damaged.[56]
On 29 January 2024, theKaren National Liberation Army shot down a MAF helicopter aboveMyawaddy Township near the Thai border. During the incident Brigadier General Aye Min Naung, the 44th LI Division commander, Colonel Soe Tun Lwin, LI Battalion 9's acting commander, pilot Colonel Toe Oo and two army captains were supposedly killed according to military sources.[57]
On 29 February 2024, a MiG-29SMT fighter of Myanmar Air Force crashed in southwest of Salin District, Magway Region. This aircraft crashed when it was on its way to combat mission, Myanmar military blamed the crash on a technical failure. One pilot ejected successfully and escaped the crash.[58][59]
On 2 August 2024, a Myanmar Air Force Eurocopter AS365 Dauphin crashed after take off nearHmawbi Airport, Yangon. The aircraft was on a training flight and the cause of the crash was blamed on an engine failure. 2 were injured and 2 were killed. The deceased were identified as Maj-GenSoe Tin Latt and Copilot Col Myo Thaung.[60]
On 20 May 2025, a Myanmar Air ForceMil Mi-17 was shot down by anFPV drone of theKachin Independence Army while transporting reinforcements to the city ofBhamo, and crashed 14 miles fromShwegu. Reportedly, all 18 passengers onboard were killed, including the pilot.[61][62]
On 10 June 2025, anF-7M fighter jet crashed into a house in Sabarsae village in Pearl township during an air operation to assist defending of battle against Myanmar pro-Democracy Alliance Forces.People's Liberation Army (PLA), one of the rebel militia group, participating in operation, claims that they shot down the jet.[63] However, spoke person from other rebel group denied and said it crashed itself.
On 1 Jul 2025, aGuizhou FTC-2000G trainer/figher jet lost contact due to severe weather or technical malfunction during night flying mission.[64] On 3 Jul 2025, a video of the member ofKNDF forces celebrating on the wreckage of crashed jet appear on social media. Both pilots were killed.[65]
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