The Air Defense Forces (လေကြောင်းရန်ကာကွယ်ရေးတပ်ဖွဲ့) is one of the major branches of Tatmadaw. 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 2000, Tatmadaw established the Myanmar Integrated Air Defence System (MIADS) with help from Russia, Ukraine and China. It is a tri-service bureau with units from all three branches of the armed forces. All air defence assets except anti-aircraft artillery are integrated into MIADS.^[1]

Quick Facts Air Defense Forces, Founded ...

Air Defense Forces
လေကြောင်းရန်ကာကွယ်ရေးတပ်ဖွဲ့
Founded	1997; 27 years ago (1997)
Country	Myanmar
Size	15000-17000 personnel (2016)
Part of	Tatmadaw
Headquarters	Naypyidaw
Motto(s)	ကျွမ်းကျင်၊လျင်မြန်၊သေချာ၊အောင်မြင် Skill Speed Sure Success
Commanders
Chief of Air Defence	Lieutenant general Tin Maung Win
Vice-chief of Air Defence	Major General Nay Myo Oo (DSA-34)

Close

This article contains Burmese script. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Burmese script.

In 2010, Myanmar Air Defence Command completed installation of an optical fibre communication network throughout the country. The network is to be used for air defence operations between Central Command HQ from the capital (Naypyidaw) and several air bases, early warning radar stations and mobile anti-aircraft missile and artillery units. After completion of the fibre optic project and radar stations, MIADS (Myanmar Integrated Air Defence System) is the most advance AD system in the region.^[1]

The Office of the Chief of Air Defence is based in Naypyidaw, and the position of the Chief of Air Defence is Lieutenant General. The position of Vice-Chief of Air Defence is held by a person with the rank of Major General. Three Brigadier generals from Myanmar Army, Myanmar Navy and Myanmar Air Force serve as Deputy-Chief of Air Defence. There are nine Air Defence Operation Commands and one Air Defense Training School. Each Air Defence Operation Command is also directed by a brigadier general. Under each Air Defence Operation Command, there is an Air Defence Early Warning Battalion, an Air Defence Signal Battalion, an Air Defence ECM Battalion, an Air Defence Mechanism Battalion, an Air Defence Workshop Battalion, and Air Defence Battalions which are also known as La Ka Ta (လကတ).

Each early warning battalion is equipped with a 3D air surveillance radar, such as JY-27A radar, YLC-2V radar,^[2] 80K6 radar and 1L-117^[1] radar, or a 2D VHF radar, such as Vostok-E radar and P-18M radar.^[3] Each electronic countermeasure battalion is equipped with chinese and ukrainian mobile ECM and ELINT systems. Each air defence (mechanism) battalion is equipped with two batteries of medium-range air defence systems. The air defence battalions (La Ka Ta) are divided into three; Anti-aircraft artillery battalions, short-range SAM battalions (for point defence role) and medium-range SAM battalions (for area defence role).^[4] Battalion numbers from 1,005 to 1019 are anti-aircraft artillery battalions and they are equipped with a large number of ground-based anti-aircraft guns. Battalion numbers from 2010 to 2032 are short-range SAM battalions and each battalion is equipped with a lot of MANPADs, 3-5 TH-5711 smart hunter radars^[3] or TWS-312 radars (licence built TH-5711 radar), 5 Tunguska-M1 self-propelled anti-aircraft systems^[3] or Tor-M1^[1][5] and 10-15 Type-87 self-propelled anti-aircraft guns. Battalion numbers from 3,009 to 3036 are medium-range SAM battalions and they are equipped with one battery of medium-range air defence systems or one battery of S-200^[6][7] air defence system (only two battalions located at Nay Pyi Taw Region and Yangon Region) with additional target detection and tracking radars, height-finding radars, fire control radars, etc.

The following is the list of equipments used by air defence battalions of Myanmar.

Anti-aircraft guns(AAA)

More information Model, Origin ...

Model	Origin	Year of receipt	Quantity	Notes
Type-87	China	2005-2010	380[8]	Chinese variant of Soviet ZU-23-2 in 25x183mmB calibre.
Type-74	China	2000-2005	24[3]	37 mm AAA.
Type 59[3]	China	2010	Unknown	Anti-aircraft gun (57mm) based on AZP S-60.Received hundreds of this type in 2010.
MR-4	Romania	2000-2005	200[4]	Romanian variant of ZPU-4.
MAA-01 35mm anti-aircraft gun[3]	Myanmar	2012–present (licence built)	10 (as of 2017)[3]	Locally producing with the Chinese assistance. Similar to Chinese Type-90 35 mm twin AA gun.[3]
Type-87 self-propelled anti-aircraft guns	Myanmar	2010-2016	Unknown	Chinese Type-87 25 mm twin AA guns, produced in local with TOT, are fitted on the Dongfeng EQ-2102 trucks. Each anti-aircraft artillery/air defence division comprises three battalions equipped with these AA guns.[4]

Close

Man portable air defence systems(MANPADs)

More information Model, Origin ...

Model	Origin	Year of receipt	Quantity	Notes
Igla-1E (SA-16 Gimlet)	Bulgaria  Myanmar	2010–present (licensed production)	2100[3]	Very short-range portable surface-to-air missile. 100 SA-16s received from Bulgaria in 1999. 2000 units of SA-16s producing in locally with TOT between 2004 and 2014.[3]
Igla (SA-18 Grouse)	Russia	Unknown	100[4][3]	Very short-range portable surface-to-air missile. For infantry use.
Igla-S (SA-24 Grinch)	Russia	2015-2018	400[4]	Very short-range portable surface-to-air missile. For infantry use.
HN-5A	China	1990-1992	200[4]	Possibly being retired.

Close

Air defence systems(SAM)

More information Model, Origin ...

Model	Origin	Year of receipt	Quantity	Notes
Long-range air defence system
S-200 Dubna (SA-5 Gammon)[6][7]	Russia	2008	20	Long-range air defence system. North Korea have shipped as many as 20 S-200 launchers to Myanmar. Unclear as to how many units remain in service[7]
Medium-range air defence systems
Pechora-2M (SA-3 Goa)	Russia	2010-2014	8 systems (batteries)[9][10][11]	Medium range surface-to-air missile system. Total of 30 launching vehicles.[4][12]
Kub 2K12M2 (SA-6 "Gainful")	Belarus	2008-2010	24[4]	Medium-range surface to air missile system.
Kub/Buk Kavadrat-M (SA-6 "Gainful")	Belarus	2016	2 batteries[3]	Medium range surface-to-air missile system. Received in 2016.[3]
KS-1A	China	2014-2015	7 batteries[3] (Four KS-1A batteries and the rest are KS-1M batteries)	Medium-range surface-to-air missile system.
KS-1M	Myanmar	2015-2020(Locally producing)		Medium range surface-to-air missile system. Producing under licence in Myanmar.[3] According to the licence, 12 batteries will be produced by 2020.
S-75M3 Volga-2 (SA-2 Guideline)	Russia	2004 and 2008	48[4]	48 surface-to-air missile launchers and 250 missiles received in 2008.
BAE Dynamics Bloodhound Mk.II[13][14]	United Kingdom	1999-2000	60 launchers[14]	Supplied by Singapore.Possibly retired from service.
Self-propelled short-range air defence systems
Pantsir-S1 (SA-22 Greyhound)	Russia	On order		Ordered in 2020.[15]
TOR-M1 (SA-15 Gauntlet)	Russia	2004-2008	Unknown[1]	For critical areas.[1]
2K22M Tunguska (SA-19 "Grison")	Russia	2004-2007(38units) and 2019(3units)	41	38 acquired from Russia between 2004 and 2007[3] and 3 from Ukarine in 2019[16]
MADV	Myanmar	2009-2014(locally produced)	180 (as of 2013)	Air defence variants of locally made Naung Yoe armoured vehicle (utility version). Four Igla mounted MADVs are standard organic AD systems for the Infantry Brigades.[1] Using SA-16 surface-to-air missiles.[3]

Close

• Pantsir S1 - On 22 January 2021 Senior General Min Aung Hlaing signed an agreement which included Pantsir S1 systems, Orlan-10E UAVs and radars during the Russian defence minister Sergey Shoygu visit to Naypyidaw.^[10][11][15]

• Tatmadaw
• Myanmar Army
• Myanmar Navy
• Myanmar Air Force
• Military intelligence of Myanmar
• Myanmar Directorate of Defence Industries
• Directorate of Medical Services
• List of equipment of the Myanmar Army
• List of equipment in the Myanmar Navy