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Myanmar Navy Received Two Chinese Type 053H1 Frigate

10 Maret 2012

Type 053H1 frigates with Myanmar Navy hull numbers F21 and F23 (all photos : Militaryphotos)

Two photos were posted onmilitaryphotos.net indicating that China handed over two Type 053H1 frigates to Myanmar Navy. In the Myanmar Navy ships have hull numbers F21 and F23.

Frigates Type 053H1 Jianghu-2 (development of the Type 053H1 Jianghu-one - the modified MRS Soviet D.50) were built in China inthe years 1981-88 at the shipyard Hudong Shipyard in Shanghai.Results for the Chinese navy was built 10 of these ships, including one ship in 1989 sold to Bangladesh and was named F18 Osman. Also in the years 1984-85 were built two frigates for the Navy Type 053H1 Egypt (951 Najim Al-Zafir and 956 El Nasser).

Features

Displacement, standard / full - 1565/1960 ton

Length - 103.22 m

Breadth - 10.83 m

Draft - 3.19 m

Powerplant - Two-shafted, two diesel 12E390VA (16,000 hp), 2 DG12PA6V280 BTC

Speed - 25.5 knots

Range - 3,000 miles at a speed of 18 knots and 1750 miles at a speed of 25 knots

The crew - 195 people (including 30 officers)

Armament:
2x2 launchers of SY-1 antiship missiles;
2x2 100-mm gun mounts Type 79A;
6x2 37-mm gun mounts Type 61 or Type 76;
2x5 240-mm ASW rocket launchers Type 81 (30 depth charge rockets RGB-12) or 2x6 ASW rocket launchers Type 3200 (36 depth charge rockets);
2 depth charge mortars Type 64;
2 depth charge racks

(VPK)

Regional Naval Directory (2)

28 Mei 2011

Myanmar

New Zealand

Philippines

Singapore

Thailand

Vietnam

(Asian Military Review)

Myanmar Berminat Membeli SS-2 Indonesia

SS-2 produksi Pindad Indonesia

JAKARTA-(IDB) : Menteri Pertahanan Purnomo Yusgiantoro mengatakan pemerintah berharap akan menjual senjata SS-2 buatan Indonesia ke Myanmar.

"Pihak Myanmar sudah melihat SS-2, dan kami telah menawarkan senjata teresebut", kata Purnomo disela-sela pertemuan menteri pertahanan ASEAN di Jakarta pada hari kamis.

Purnomo mengatakan bahwa Indonesia telah melakukan penjualan senjata keluar negeri, senjata tersebut telah diproduksi oleh perusahaan milik negara yaitu PT.Pindad dan KKIP.

"Myanmar sudah melakukan proses transisi. Mereka juga sudah melakukan pemilihan senjata yang dilakukan secara bertahap" kata Purnomo.

Kolonel Jan Pieter Ate yang merupakan asisten khusus Menteri Pertahanan Indonesia mengatakan bahwa pada dasarnya Indonesia tidak akan membatasi penjualan senjata kepada negara manapun, termasuk negara-negara anggota ASEAN.

"Negara-negara ASEAN harus membeli senjata di kawasan daripada membeli senjata diluar kawasan ASEAN," ujarnya.

Jan Pieter mengatakan bahwa kebijakan Indonesia terhadap penjualan senjata tersebut terkait dengan kerjasama industri pertahanan ASEAN.

"Tidak apa-apa kita ingin menjual senjata kita ke Malaysia, Laos atau Vietnam dan Myanmar," Ujarnya.

"Tujuan utama dari penjualan senjata untuk mempertahankan negara" kata Jan Pieter.

Penjualan senjata dapat membantu Indonesia untuk mendukung transisi Myanmar menjadi negara demokratis, tambahnya.

"Dengan hubungan tersebut, kita akan memiliki akses yang lebih baik dengan Myanmar agar menjadi lebih demokratis. Jika suatu negara tidak memiliki hubungan dengan negara lain, akan sulit suatu negara untuk mempengaruhi satu sama lain. Salah satu cara nya adalah melalui perdangan, dan pertahanan merupakan salah satu cara untuk mendekatkan hubungan," katanya.

Analisis pertahanan Universitas Indonesia Andi Widjajanto mengatakan gagasan menjual senjata Indonesia ke Myanmar lebih positif daripada sisi negatifnya. "Embargo senjata terhadap Myanmar malah mendorong junta untuk membeli senjata di pasar gelap," katanya.

Myanmar diberikan dua pilihan yaitu tetep membeli senjata di pasar internasional atau mendukung penyelundupan senjata terhadapa jaringan kejahatan transnasional, katanya.

Sumber: JakartaPost

Myanmar to Get RI Rifles

20 Mei 2011

Senapan SS2 Pindad (photo : Kaskus Militer)

Defense Minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro says the government hopes to sell Indonesian-made SS-2 assault rifles to Myanmar.

“[Myanmar] looked at the SS-2. We have been offering it,” he said Thursday after the ASEAN Defense Ministers Meeting in Jakarta.

Purnomo said that the nation’s arms trade was currently conducted by Indonesian Incorporated, which represented Indonesia’s state-owned weapons maker, PT Pindad; the Defense Ministry and the Defense Industry Policy Committee (KKIP).

“Myanmar is already in the process of transition. They already had an election. It has to be done in phases,” Purnomo said.

Col. Jan Pieter Ate a special assistant to the Indonesian Defense Minister, said that in principle Indonesia would not limit its arms sales to any nation, including ASEAN member nations.

“They should control their own markets rather than countries outside ASEAN,” he said.

Jan Pieter said that Indonesia’s policy on arms sales was related to the ASEAN defense industry collaboration.

“It’s all right if we want to sell [arms] to Malaysia, Laos or Vietnam, and Myanmar. What we do not hope for — and we do not compromise in this — is if the weapons are used to threaten other countries,” Jan Pieter said.

He added that Indonesia’s stance was firm, waving off the possibility that Indonesian-made weapons might be used on civilians.

“The main purpose of weapons is to defend a country. This appeals to us as well,” Jan Pieter said.

Weapons sales might help Indonesia support Myanmar’s shift towards democracy, he added.

“With such a relationship, we will have better access to the country to improve democracy. If one [nation] does not have a relationship with another, it would be hard to influence one another. One of the ways is through trade, and defense is one of the ways [to do that],” Jan Pieter said.

University of Indonesia security analyst Andi Widjajanto said the idea of selling Indonesian weapons to Myanmar was more positive than negative. “An ‘embargo’ of light weapons to Myanmar will in fact push the junta to enter the black market,” he said.

Giving Myanmar the option to remain in the international weaponry market would cause the transnational criminal network supporting arms smuggling to lose revenue, he said.

(The Jakarta Post)

Uji Coba Helikopter Mi-35 Myanmar

27 April 2011

Helikopter Mi-35P Angkatan Udara Myanmar (all photos : Michail Mizikaev & Erik Rostov)

Menyusul pesanan helikopter dari Myanmar pada tahun lalu, beberapa unit heli serbu Mi-24P atau dalam varian ekspornya dikenal dengan nama Mi-35P (NATO : Hind F) saat ini telah selesai dibuat.

Seperti diberitakan oleh Irrawaddy pada bulan September tahun lalu, pemerintah Myanmar memesan 50 unit helikopter Mi-35 dan 12 unit helikopter Mi-2 dari Rusia.

Ke 62 unit helikopter ini akan dibagi ke dalam 4 skuadron yang masing-masing akan berpangkalan di Magwe dan Ela. Pengoperasian helikopter ini akan dilakukan oleh Angkatan Udara Myanmar.

Saat ini helikopter ini tengah menjalani uji coba di Rusia semenjak bulan Februari. Tampak bahwa unit heli bernomor 68-01, 68-02, 68-03 masih menjalani uji terbang.

Beberapa sumber mengatakan bahwa setelah uji coba selesai maka akan dilakukan pengiriman batch pertama yang terdiri dari 6-7 helikopter. Pengiriman batch pertama ini kemungkinan akan dilakukan pada bulan April tahun ini.

(Defense Studies)

Import Senjata Konvensional Kawasan 2010

14 Maret 2011

SIPRI (Stockholm International Peace Research Institute) organisasi nirlaba yang berpusat di Swedia pada hari ini kembali mengeluarkan laporan mengenai transfer persenjataan di seluruh dunia.

Pada dasarnya setiap negara anggota PBB wajib memberikan laporan mengenai transfer persenjataan konvensional kepada negara lainnya.

Berikut ini adalah data import persenjataan di kawasan pada tahun 2010 yang meliputi Australia, Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Timor Leste, dan Vietnam.

(SIPRI)

Russia to Build New An-148 for Myanmar in Place of Crashed Plane

09 Maret 2011

Myanmar have ordered two An-148 for goverment as VIP aircfraft, one of aircraft crashed during a test flight in Russia (photo : Robin Moret)

MOSCOW, (RIA Novosti) - The passenger plane that crashed during a test flight on Saturday in southern Russia was insured and a new one will be built soon if insurance is paid swiftly, an aircraft industry source said on Wednesday.

The Antonov An-148 plane was being tested prior to delivery to Myanmar, which ordered two last year for government use.

The industry source said the plane was insured by Ingosstrakh, which confirmed the information, but declined to disclose the details of the insurance contract.

All six people on board, including two Myanmar nationals, were killed when the An-148 plane crashed in the village of Garbuzovo in the Belgorod region.

The plane crashed while carrying out descent tests. Investigators say the high speed caused critical pressure in the plane's engines, causing them to ignite and the plane to explode in midair.

Plane parts were found 1.5 kilometers away from the site where the bodies of the crew were discovered.

The Russian Investigative Committee has admitted that the crash was caused by a technical failure.

Investigators are also looking at pilot error and a defective fuel gauge as possible reasons.

(RIA Novosti)

Myanmar, North Korea in Missile Nexus

07 Maret 2011

A Scud missile in a underground missile factory which a report by the Myanmar delegation suggests is located in a remote region outside Pyongyang. The missile is presumed to be a Scud-D (500 km range), or Scud-E (700-1000km range), both improvements over the original Soviet design. (photo : Yoo Yong Won’s Military World)

BANGKOK - Military-run Myanmar's growing weapons ambitions, including new revelations that the reclusive regime is producing long-range Scud-type missiles with North Korean assistance, threaten to destabilize the region and make the Southeast Asian country a new global weapons proliferation hotspot.

According to exclusive information received by Asia Times Online, one of two munitions factories located near the small town of Minhla on the west bank of the Ayeyarwady River, south of Minbu in Magway Division, is involved in the production of sophisticated Scud-type missiles. North Korean experts are reportedly assisting Myanmar's own military technicians in the top-secret project.

Known as ka pa sa, shorthand for the Burmese-language initials of the the Directorate of Defense Industries, the country's weapons factories have for decades produced basic armaments for the military. But ka pa sa 2 and 10 near Minhla are now churning out more advanced weapons, including Scud-type missiles, than the country has to date. These are more difficult to detect from the air because they are located partly underground.

A Scud-armed Myanmar would place its capabilities a significant notch above its Southeast Asian neighbors, which do not possess such long-range missiles. The revelations could spark a regional arms race, prompting neighboring countries such as Thailand to develop or procure their own missile arsenal.

The existence of the two factories was outlined in an August 27, 2004 United States embassy cable from Yangon, which was made public by WikiLeaks late last year. One of the US Embassy's sources claimed that North Korean workers were assembling surface-to-air missiles at "a military site in Magway Division" where a "concrete-reinforced underground facility" was also under construction.
The source told the embassy that "he had seen a large barge carrying a reinforced steel bar of a diameter that suggested a project larger than a factory".

Asia Times Online has discovered that the site referred to in the embassy cable is ka pa sa 10, situated near Konegyi village in Minhla township. Construction of the site began in 1993, but has only recently been completed. The site reportedly covers 6,000 acres (2,428 hectares) and, according to a source who used to work at the facility, the aim is to produce surface-to-air, surface-to-surface and air-to-air missiles.

The same source, who requested anonymity for personal security reasons, claimed that the North Koreans working at the site first entered Myanmar discreetly by road from China. They were met at the border and then brought to Minhla by officers from Myanmar's Defense Production Directorate, known as ka ka htone, according to the source.

On the Myanmar side, between 600 and 900 army technicians and other military personnel are currently based at ka pa sa 10. Initially Russian and Chinese technicians also took part in the facility's construction, but they appear to have since left and been replaced with North Korean experts.

Ka pa sa 2 controls no less than 100,000 acres of land near Malun village, which is also based in Minhla township. According to the source, the somewhat older factory employs 900 engineers and other military personnel and produces 60mm, 81mm and 120mm mortars and 105mm artillery pieces.

The complex also includes a huge firing range where heavy weapons, including artillery and rockets, are tested. According to the source, Singapore, as a small island country which doesn't have enough space for such testing, paid for the construction of the firing range. Weapons are also brought from Singapore and tested at the site.

Name games

On October 4 last year, the English-language weekly Myanmar Times reported that Myanmar authorities had inaugurated on September 19 a "25.4-mile section, or approximately 40 kilometers, of railroad between Minhla in Bago Region and Minbu in Magwe Region". Construction of the new section, "which is part of the ongoing Kyangin-Pakokku Railroad Project along the western bank of the Ayeyarwady River", started in April 2007, according to the same news report.

The infrastructure project's opening was presided over by then prime minister, now President Thein Sein, underscoring the apparent importance of the short rail link. According to the Myanmar Times, Thein Sein also stated that the railroad would enable "the people to have easy access to various regions of the nation".

The problem with the report is that Minhla in Bago Region is located several miles to the east of the Ayeyarwady, and nearly 200 miles or, more than 300 kilometers, south of Minbu. Deliberate or otherwise, the reports confused the location of the two towns that share the same name. A 40-kilometer railroad between "upper" Minhla on the western bank - the only stretch of railroad on that side of the river - and Minbu could only serve one major purpose: to transport heavy goods relevant to producing Scud-type missiles or supplying a nuclear program to and from Minbu, a major port on the Irrawaddy River.

So far, however, there are no reports to suggest that Minhla's two ka pa sa facilities are involved in Myanmar's nascent and clandestine nuclear program. That research is reportedly carried out at Myaing to the north of Pakokku, which is also in Magway Division but far from the Minhla facilities. The progress of Myanmar's nuclear research is not known, but it is believed to be in its infancy and widely regarded as a pipedream that is unlikely to succeed in developing nuclear weapons.

Still, North Korean involvement in ka pa sa 2 may be cause for international concern - even for Myanmar's traditional military partner, China.

In the 1990s, China supplied Myanmar with between US$1 billion and $2 billion worth of military hardware. The list of imported armaments included 80 Type-69II medium-battle tanks, more than 100 Type-63 light tanks, 250 Type-85 armored personnel carriers, multiple launch rocket systems, howitzers, anti-aircraft guns, HN-5 surface-to-air missiles, mortars, assault rifles, recoilless guns, rocket-propelled grenade launchers, JLP-50 and JLG-43 air defense radars, heavy trucks, Chengdu F-7M Airguard jet fighters, FT-7 and FT-6 jet trainers, A-5C ground attack aircraft, SACY-8D transport aircraft, Hainan class patrol boats, Houxin-class guided missile fast attack craft, minesweepers and small gunboats. In 2000, China delivered 12 Karakoram-8 trainers/ground attack aircraft, which are produced in a joint venture with Pakistan.

Since then, however, it appears that Chinese deliveries of military equipment have waned significantly. However, in November 2007, immediately after the crackdown on a widespread protest movement led by Buddhist monks, China supplied Myanmar with howitzers and bomb-detection equipment.

According to a February 18, 2011, report by the US Congressional Research Service (CRS), China followed that up with a delivery of 450 military trucks in December 2007. In January 2008, China sent another 500 military trucks to Myanmar and in August that same year supplied an additional 3,500 military trucks with spare parts. In 2009, China delivered another five large military trucks and in March last year sent an additional 400 military use vehicles.

That bilateral cooperation was reaffirmed last September when Myanmar junta leader General Than Shwe traveled to China, ostensibly to update the authorities in Beijing on his country's upcoming elections, which were held in November.
During the visit, Than Shwe also inspected Huawei Technologies, which CRS says has supplied Myanmar's military with communications equipment. At the end of last year, Myanmar's air force agreed to buy 50 K-8 jet trainers from China; CRS speculates that some of the assembly work for the order will be done in Myanmar.

While China remains a major player in the still ongoing expansion of Myanmar's military forces, it is no longer Myanmar's main military partner. The regime in Naypyidaw is increasingly turning to North Korea for assistance in clandestine military research and the production of more sophisticated weapons, which seems to be at the top of the junta's list of strategic priorities. As the newly exposed North Korean-staffed facilities indicate, Myanmar's generals are angling to diversify their sources of hardware and know-how.

(Asia Times)

Myanmar Allocates 1/4 of New Budget to Military

04 Maret 2011

Zeyda 474 one of Houxin class FAC-M with C-802 missiles of the Myanmar Navy (photo : Militaryphotos)

YANGON, Myanmar - Nearly one-quarter of Myanmar's new national budget will go to defense, an official publication reported Tuesday, following an election that was supposed to hand power to a civilian government after decades of military rule.

A newly elected parliament met in January for the first time in two decades but apparently was not given oversight of the budget: The document was enacted before the legislature sat on Jan. 31, according to the Government Gazette.

That wasn't the only sign that the transfer of power from the ruling junta — many of whose members resigned in order to run as "civilians" — may happen in name only.

The budget earmarked 20 billion kyat (about $22 million at free market rates of exchange) for the office of the State Peace and Development Council, the official name of the junta. It had been widely assumed the junta would be officially abolished under the new regime.

The gazette reported that 1.8 trillion kyat ($2 billion), or 23.6 percent of the budget this year, will go to defense. The health sector, meanwhile, will get 99.5 billion kyat ($110 million), or 1.3 percent.

Myanmar is one of Asia's poorest countries, reflected in its health indicators. It had the 44th highest infant mortality rate of the 193 countries listed by the UNICEF in its 2011 State of the World's Children report.

The budget was not been publicized in the mass media, a pattern that has held for at least a decade.

The energy sector will receive the second largest budget share, getting over 1 trillion kyat ($1.1 billion) or about 13 percent of the 7.6 trillion kyat ($8.45 billion) budget.

Myanmar has vast reserves of natural gas, which is the country's leading export commodity, and is starting large-scale development of hydropower.

The education sector will receive 314 billion kyat ($349 million), or 4.13 percent.

The budget also makes no provisions for two new ministries established by parliament last month, the Ministry of the President's Office and the Ministry of Myanma Industrial Development.

(CNBC)

Myanmar to Receive New Batch of MiG-29s from March

02 Maret 2011

MiG-29 of the Myanmar Air Force (photo : Keypublishing Forum)

Myanmar will in March receive the first of 20 RSK MiG-29s ordered under a roughly €400 million ($553 million) deal, with their introduction to more than double the country's MiG-29fleet.

Ordered in November 2009, the aircraft will be delivered in three configurations, comprising 10 MiG-29B and six MiG-29SE single-seat fighters and four MiG-29UB twin-seat operational trainers.

The acquisition effectively clears the remaining MiG-29B/SE stock at RSK MiG's Lukhovitsy plant, with the airframe parts having been manufactured in the Soviet and Perestroika eras. Myanmar's aircraft will be delivered in an original export configuration, with analogue instruments and Phazotron N-019 radars.

MiG-29 of the Myanmar Air Force (image : Mars Slupsk)

Myanmar previously bought used MiG-29s from Belarus, but approached the type's manufacturer and Russian arms export company Rosoboronexport for help after encountering a high attrition rate. Moscow responded with help on weapons, spare parts and training, including the installation of a simulator at one of its air bases.

Acquiring an additional batch of fighters directly from RSK MiG should radically improve the combat readiness and effectiveness of Myanmar's fleet, sources say. Its air force now has 12 MiG-29s, says Flightglobal's MiliCAS database.

Meanwhile, RSK MiG says a new logistics support system to be established in co-operation with Indian companies will enable it to provide increased customer support for the nation's MiG-29s, plus those flown by the air forces of Malaysia and Myanmar.

(FlightGlobal)

Burma's Air Defense Force Deploying New SAMs

03 Februari 2011

SA-125/SA-3 air defense missile (photo : MMMilitary)

Burma’s Air Defense Force intends to deploy the S 125 Neva/ Pechora surface-to-air missile after Burmese army soldiers spotted an unidentified flying object assumed to be an Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) flying over eastern Shan State in early January.

Originally from Russia, the S-125 Neva/Pechora is a kind of surface-to-air-missile (SAM) that has a shorter effective range and lower engagement than others.

“Air Defense Force troops will be in training between this month and April at Burma’s Air Defense Force schools,” said Khuensai Jaiyen, the editor Thailand-based Shan Herald Agency for News (SHAN). “The training involves the UAV that was spotted in January.”

The UAV flew across Namhsan Township and was identical to a UAV spotted by government troops in the last week of December over Kengtung Township. The Burmese Air Force has reportedly been ordered to shoot the UAV down if spotted again in Burmese airspace.

Normally, Burmese Air Defense Force battalions are equipped with 57 mm and 40 mm anti-aircraft auto-cannons, 37 mm anti-aircraft guns and Russia-made IGLAs, a portable anti-aircraft missile. Burma's military has sent junior Air Defense Force officers to Russia to be trained in portable air defense missile systems.

During the NATO air strikes in Yugoslavia, an F-117 stealth aircraft was shot down by a Serb S-125 air defense system in 1999.

As of December 2008, over 200 Pechora-2M upgraded ramp-launched missiles had been ordered by Egypt, Syria, Libya, Burma, Vietnam, Venezuela and Turkmenistan, according to the website

www.deagel.com.

Burma's military has two Air Defense Force schools, one based in Myitkina in Mandalay Division and the other in Hmawbi in Rangoon Division, and eight Air Defense Force commands.

(Irrawady)

Myanmar Buys 50 Mi-24 and 12 Mi-2 from Russia

12 September 2010

Mil-Mi-24 helicopter (photo : Flightglobal)

Burma Buys 50 Combat Helicopters

The Burmese Air Force (BAF) has bought 50 Mi-24 helicopters and 12 Mi-2 armored transport helicopters from Russia, according to a source from the BAF.
The purchase of the M-24s marks the first time the BAF, known in Burmese as Tatmadaw-Lay, has procured combat-equipped helicopters. “50 Mi-24 fighter helicopters and a dozen Mi-2s were procured from Russia, and are now being assembled in Flying Training Base in Meikthila,” the source said. “After assembling the helicopters they will be divided among four squadrons at Magwe Air Base and Ela Air Base.”

Burma currently has 15 air bases. Ela Air Base, not far from Burma’s remote capital Naypyidaw, is the newest and is frequently used by Burma's senior military generals and government officials for domestic and international flights.

The procurement of the Mi-24s comes a year after a request was made to Russia by BAF chief Lt-Gen Myat Hein in a bid to modernize Burma's ailing air force and provide a weapon to conduct air strikes against infantry battalions, most likely in Burma's ethnic areas where dozens of armed groups still exert control.

“The main reason for purchasing the Mi-24s is for counter-insurgency,” the source said.

In 1956, the BAF bought six Kawasaki Bell 47G helicopters from Japan, but did not upgrade its fleet until 1975 when the US provided 18 Bell 205A-1 helicopters as part of an anti-narcotics program.

Mil Mi-2 helicopter (photo : Airliners)

Since then, Burma has acquired some 70 helicopters, few of which are still in service. The BAF has traditionally separated its helicopter fleet among air bases at Hmawbi in Rangoon Division, Namsang in Southern Shan State, Taungoo in Pegu Division and Ground Training Air Base in Meikthila, which is in Mandalay Division.

One Mi-17 helicopter crashed in 2001, taking the lives of several senior military officials, including Burmese army Chief-of-Staff Lt-Gen Tin Oo.

An Mi-2 helicopter from Taungoo Air Base crashed in June near Pindaya Township, resulting in four deaths.

The BAF was founded in 1947 before Burma gained independence. Its principal raison d'être for many years was a campaign against the the Burmese Communist Party in the jungles of Burma's north and a decades-long war waged against several the country's ethnic armies, most notably the Karen National Union.

(Irrawaddy)

Radios Aiding Myanmar Army

16 Agustus 2010

Barrett 2050 radio (photo : barrettcommunications)

Radios Aiding Burma Army

BURMA'S army has evaded Australian government sanctions to obtain radio sets from a Perth manufacturer that allow it to scramble its communications, gaining a new advantage in its wars against domestic rebels and dissidents.

Prestigious British defence journal Jane's Intelligence Review reports that Perth-based Barrett Communications has been selling its radio sets directly in response to tenders by Burma's Ministry of Defence, contradicting suggestions by the company it was selling the radios to civilian agencies of the Burmese government.

When the military's use of the radios was first reported in January, Barrett managing director Phil Bradshaw insisted the radios were used for general communications and were not of a kind ''for military use''.

The company told Jane's that any Barrett 2050 radios sold to Burma did not include the frequency-hopping option that makes monitoring all but impossible and which would contravene Australian export controls on sensitive military technology, including signals encryption, in place since 1991.

Mr Bradshaw is quoted as saying the frequency-hopping option could only be installed at the company's factory by authorised staff.

The Defence Department in Canberra backed this up. ''This could not be done in-country [by the customer]'', the department told the journal.

But an industry source familiar with Barrett radios has said the processor and software that hops messages across 500 frequencies is built into every Barrett 2050. This and other extra functions could be enabled by input of a random nine or 10-digit code generated by a computer at Barrett's office and matched to the serial number.

''It wouldn't be impossible for an experienced department, especially in the military, to figure out a way to bypass it,'' the source said. ''If frequency hopping required an extra part or key to unlock, then it would be far more secure to send overseas. However, since it's already built in, it's just a matter of cracking that code.''

Jane's writers Samuel Blythe and Desmond Ball said the Barrett 2050, costing about $3300 a set, was coming into growing use by the Burmese army for communications between its headquarters and divisional commands.

(The Age)

More North Korean Rockets Reported in Myanmar

25 Juni 2010

The M1991 MLRS is a more powerful version of the older M1985. It has 22 launching tubes and fires the same 240-mm rockets. It has various warhead capabilities, including HE-FRAG, smoke, incendiary and chemical. A standard HE-FRAG warhead weights 90 kg and contains 45 kg of explosives. A claimed maximum range of fire is 43 km. (photo : Military Today)

More North Korean Rockets Reported in Burma

North Korean-made truck-mounted multiple launch rocket systems have been reportedly set up at Burmese army bases in northern, eastern and central Burma, according to military sources.

The North Korean rockets were recently delivered to missile operation commands in Mohnyin in Kachin State, Naungcho and Kengtung in Shan State and Kyaukpadaung in Mandalay Division, sources said. Missile operation commands were reportedly formed in 2009.

It is not clear when the multiple launch rocket systems were shipped from North Korea. However, military sources said delivery of rocket launchers mounted on trucks occurred several times in recent years.

Sources said they witnessed at least 14 units of 240-mm truck-mounted multiple launch rocket systems arrive at Thilawa Port near Rangoon on the North Korean vessel, Kang Nam I, in early 2008. Previous reports said Burma had purchased 30 units of 240-mm truck-mounted multiple launch rocket systems from North Korean.

According to GlobalSecurity.org, North Korea produces two different 240mm rocket launchers, the 12-round M-1985 and the 22-round M-1991. The M-1985 rocket pack is easily identified by two rows of six rocket tubes mounted on a cab behind an engine chassis. The M-1991 is mounted on a cab over an engine chassis. Both launch packs can be adapted to a suitable cross-country truck.

The Kang Nam I was believed enroute to Burma again in June 2009. However, it reversed course and returned home after a US Navy destroyer followed it amid growing concern that it was carrying illegal arms shipments.

However, more arms shipments from North Korea appear to have been delivered to Burma in 2009-2010. The latest report about a North Korean vessel's arrival was in April. The ship, the Chong Gen, docked at Thilawa Port. Last week, the junta acknowledged that the Chong Gen was at the port, but it denied involvement in any arms trading with Pyongyang, saying Burma follows UN Security Council resolution 1874 which bans arms trading with North Korea. The junta said the North Korean vessel came to Burma with shipments of cement and exported rice.

According to reports by Burma military experts Maung Aung Myoe and Andrew Selth, purchasing multiple-launch rocket systems is a part of the junta’s military modernization plan. While the junta has acquired 107-mm type 63 and 122-mm type 90 multiple-launch rocket from China, North Korea has provided it with 240-mm truck-mounted launch rocket.

Some experts have said North Korea is also involved in a secret relationship with Burma for the sale of short and medium-range ballistic missiles and the development of underground facilities. Other experts and Burmese defectors claim that North Korea is also providing Burma with technology designed to create a nuclear program.

Burma severed its relationship with North Korea in 1983 following North Korean agents’ assassination of members of a South Korean delegation led by President Chun Doo Hwan. The two countries restored relations in early 1990s and officially re-establish diplomatic ties in April 2007.

(Irrawaddy)

Myanmar Buys 50 K8 from China

19 Juni 2010

K-8, China-made training aircraft (photo : Militaryphotos)

Burma Buys 50 Fighter Jets From China

The Burmese air force continues to expand with the recent procurement of 50 K-8 jet trainer aircraft from China, according to sources within the air force in Meikhtila.

“Parts of the K-8 aircraft were transported by cargo ship from China and are being assembled at the Aircraft Production and Maintenance Base in Meikhtila,” said one of the sources.

The purchase of the 50 aircraft comes after Burma’s air force chief Lt-Gen Myat Hein traveled to China in November to negotiate an upgrade to the fleet of Chinese-made military aircraft already owned by Burma.

“There are two reasons to purchase K-8 trainers,” said the source. “Either for training exercises or for counter-insurgency.”

The K-8 jet trainer, sometimes called the K-8 Karakorum or the Hongdu JL-8, is a joint venture between China and Pakistan, and is fitted with air-to-air missiles and rockets.

In 1998-9, the Burmese air force bought 12 K-8 jet trainers from China, which are now stationed at Taungoo Air Base in Pegu Division.

In addition to purchasing Chinese-made fighters and trainer aircraft, Naypyidaw signed a contract in late 2009 to buy 20 MiG-29 jet fighters from Russia at a cost of nearly US $570 million.

“The parts of the MiG-29 jet fighters will arrive in July and September by cargo ship and by plane,” said an officer close to Col. Tun Aung, a key figure in the Burmese air force. He said that the 20 Russian aircraft will be assembled in Meikhtila.

Meanwhile, Burma's main air base for maintenance, the Aircraft Production and Maintenance Air Base (APMAB) in Panchangone in Mingaladon Township has been relocated to Nyaunggone, close to the regime's Flying Training Base in Shante in Meikhtila Township, according to a source from the air base.

“The APMAB got the order from Naypyidaw in January to relocate to the new location,” he said, but said he did not know why the relocation took place. Military sources from Rangoon said that Burmese ruling military council upgraded the air force’s facilities and expanded airfields, as well as two air force bases in Bassein and Homemalin in 2006, to fulfill operational capabilities.

Burma has brought 280 aircraft from China, Russia, Yugoslavia and Poland, including trainers and fighters, since the military took power in 1988.

The Burmese air force was founded in 1947 before Burmese independence. Its main objective has since been counter campaigns against the Communist Party of Burma and several ethnic armies.

Burma has 10 air force headquarters: Bassein Air Base in Irrawaddy Division; Mingaladon Air Base in Rangoon Division; Myitkyina Air Base in Kachin State; Myike Air Base in Tenasserim Division; Namsang Air Base in Shan State; Taungoo Air Base in Pegu Division; Meikhtila (Shante) Flying Training Base; Meikthila Grounding Training Base in Mandalay Division; Magwe Air Base in Magwe Division; and Homemalin Air Base in Sagaing Division.

(Irrawaddy)

Myanmar's Military Budget to Increase Significantly

05 Juni 2010

Myanmar army during parade (photo : mmmilitary)

Burma's Military Budget to Increase Significantly

At the four-monthly meeting of Burma's top generals held in Naypyidaw during the last week of May, the junta significantly increased its military budget from last year, according to sources close to the Burmese military.

A military source told The Irrawaddy on Thursday that although the amount budgeted to the military is unavailable, it is known to be much larger than last year's military budget.

“The money allocated to the military was budgeted under the heading 'Defense Budget', but there was no specific line items for separate expenses,” he said.

The military source added, however, that it is generally believed that large military equipment purchases will be made within the next six months.

In 2009, Burma signed a contract with Russia for the purchase of 20 MiG-29 jet fighters at a cost of nearly US $570 million.

Analysts believe that many of Burma's future military purchases may come from North Korea.

According to a report by UN experts obtained by The Associated Press last month, North Korea is exporting nuclear and ballistic missile technology and using multiple intermediaries, shell companies and overseas criminal networks to circumvent UN sanctions.

The UN's seven-member panel monitoring the implementation of sanctions against North Korea said its research indicates that Pyongyang is involved in banned nuclear and ballistic activities in Iran, Syria and Burma.

In November 2008, Gen Thura Shwe Mann, the regime’s No 3 ranking general, made a secret visit to North Korea and signed a memorandum of understanding, officially formalizing military cooperation between Burma and North Korea with his North Korean counterpart, Gen Kim Kyok-sik.

During his trip to Pyongyang, Shwe Mann also visited sites of secret tunnel complexes built into the sides of mountains to store and shield jet aircraft, missiles, tanks and nuclear and chemical weapons.

In addition, according to Burmese Maj Sai Thein Win, a former deputy commander of a top-secret military factory who defected and brought with him top secret documents and photographs about Burma's nuclear projects, secret underground bunkers and tunnels have been built at many locations in Burma.

Sai Thein Win, who was trained in Burma as a defense engineer and later in Russia as a missile expert, said that about 10,000 Burmese officials have been sent to Russia thus far to study military technology, including nuclear technology.

Sai Thein Win also said in a report that Burma is trying to build medium-range missiles such as SCUDs under a memorandum of understanding with North Korea. “Burma wants to have rockets and nuclear warheads. Burma wants to be a nuclear power,” Sai Thein Win said.

One reason the regime is able to increase its military budget and import expensive military equipment and technology may be its expected increase in energy revenues.

A study by the Washington-based United States Institute of Peace said that Burma's export earnings from the country's growing energy sector will double in the next five years, due mainly to oil and gas transit pipelines now being built from Burma to China. The Institute said the calculation is based on energy exports—mostly gas—accounting for at least 45 percent of the $6.6 billion earnings declared by Burmese interests in 2008.

Burma's military regime is infamous for spending a large percentage of its national budget on the military, rather than on education, health and other public services. According to Burma military experts, 40 to 60 percent of the national budget is allocated to the military.

In contrast, 0.4 percent of the national budget is spent on healthcare, while 0.5 percent is spent for education, according to a report released in 2007 by the International Institute for Strategic Studies, a think-tank based in London.
In other news regarding the four-monthly meeting, according to military sources there was no major military reshuffle in Naypyidaw.

(The Irrawady)

Myanmar Buys An-148 Regional Jet for VIP Transport

07 Maret 2010

Ilyushin Finance has secured an order from the Myanmar government for two Antonov An-148 regional jets that will be used for passenger and VIP transport (photo : FlightGlobal)

Ilyushin Finance has secured an order from the Myanmar government for two Antonov An-148 regional jets that will be used for passenger and VIP transport.

The South-East Asian country is also in discussion to buy the smaller An-140 twin-engined turboprop, as is its neighbour Laos.

"This year's delivery slots for the An-148 are full," says Antonov, which adds that the An-148s will be delivered "no later than 2011".

The Ukrainian airframer confirms that talks are also under way with the Laos government for the sale of around three An-140s, but a deal has yet to be concluded.

Laos took delivery of a VIP-configured An-74TK-300D regional jet in October 2009, says Antonov, adding that Egypt and Libya are among its governmental customers for the An-74.

(Flight International)

China Selling MA60s to Myanmar and Sri Lanka

3 Maret 2010

Xian's MA-60 (photo : Airliners)

The China National Aero-Technology Import and Export Corporation (CATIC) has ordered nine MA60 transports on behalf of two Asian customers, according to a Xian Aircraft official.

Sri Lanka will be buying six of the turboprop-powered aircraft from CATIC, while the remaining three will go to Myanmar, says the official. The countries are acquiring the aircraft with the help of a Chinese government preferred loan scheme, the source adds.

Sri Lanka is to receive two of its MA60s this year, with the remainder to be delivered in 2011, says the Xian official, with Myanmar's three to be handed over in September. Both countries want the aircraft in a 56-seat configuration, the official adds.

Sri Lanka's ports and aviation ministry confirms that the country is in negotiations to buy six MA60s for the air force. Four of the MA60s will be dedicated for use by the service, but the other two may end up at state-owned carrier Mihin Lanka, it adds.

The Sri Lankan air force currently relies on Antonov An-32s, Lockheed Martin C-130Ks and Chinese-built Harbin Y12s for its transport activities.

F-27 of the Myanmar Air Force (photo : Muzuzu)

Myanmar, meanwhile, relies on ageing Fokker F27s, and is unable to source military equipment from the West because of trade sanctions.

Both nations are close political allies of China, which has been developing relations with them partly to act as a bulwark against its political rival India.

Chinese firms are helping to finance and build airports, roads and other infrastructure in Sri Lanka, and Beijing often makes soft loans to such countries.

(Flight International)

Regional Air Force Directory 2010 (2)

22 Februari 2010

Myanmar

New Zealand

Philippine

Singapore

Thailand

Vietnam

(Asian Military Review)

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