Myanmar female soldiers
In the past two days, the news of Myanmar's air strikes on targets in India has aroused heated discussions. Everyone's enthusiasm for Myanmar, a neighboring country, suddenly increased, and they began to understand the armed forces of Myanmar. Among them, Myanmar is the second largest armed force in Southeast Asia, after Vietnam, with more than 500,000 troops. Myanmar borders western India to the east, and there are deep contradictions between the two sides. How is the strength of the Myanmar Army compared to the mighty Indian Army?
Myanmar female soldiers
First, let's talk about the grievances between Myanmar and India. In ancient history, Myanmar gave birth to a brilliant civilization and a series of dynasties emerged one after another. In its heyday, Myanmar was even able to compete head-to-head with the Qing Dynasty, and the two sides were at odds. In the late 19th century, under the continuous British attack, Burma became a British colony and became a colony of British India. At its peak, British India administered what is now Burma, India, Bangladesh, and Pakistan.
Myanmar borders eastern India to the west and has a complex terrain structure, dominated by mountains and hills. In this area, a large number of tribes and peoples live. The border between Myanmar and India is not clear, and tensions often erupt. During British rule, these contradictions were not obvious. During World War II, Britain's national strength declined severely. After World War II, Britain could no longer afford to maintain a large colonial system. In 1947, India and Pakistan became independent. In 1948, Myanmar became independent.
Indo-Myanmar border
Note that at that time, India once wooed Myanmar and made a series of promises to unite with India to form a huge federation. Myanmar considered its own actual situation and interests, coupled with India's "pie painting", Myanmar refused India's request. With the independence of the two countries, the two countries have become more and more contradictory around a series of border issues. Myanmar and India share a border of more than 1,600 kilometers, and Chin Tao State is located in the northwestern mountains of Myanmar, next to India.
The Myanmar-India border states of Mizoram, Nagaland and Manipur are home to several separatist forces active throughout the year, and the turmoil is protracted. India and Myanmar often cross their borders against separatist forces and often support separatist forces in each other's territory, and India and Myanmar often cross their borders against hostile separatist forces. Both sides will use separatist forces in each other's territory as their own bargaining chips.
Indian T90 tank
Under such circumstances, both sides have sent troops to cross the border to fight the separatist armed forces. Because the separatist armed forces are very cunning, once they are hit, they will flee into India, leaving Myanmar helpless. In 2015, India sent 40,000 troops into Myanmar's border region to crack down on separatist forces in western Myanmar. Of course, Myanmar also often sends troops into the Indian side to carry out clearance and strike operations. Such situations are very frequent, and both sides know it.
Of course, India's actual control over its eastern border region is indeed limited. According to Indian reports, on January 12, the Myanmar Air Force sent Thunder Dragon fighters to fly into the Indian side of the border between the two countries and bombed the camp of the Chin armed forces. Seven people were killed and more than 20 injured. Dare to dispatch air force fighters to directly attack targets in India. It has to be said that Myanmar is "very brave" in this regard.
Myanmar T72S tank
In fact, compared with the powerful Indian Air Force, the two sides do not need an order of magnitude, and the number of third-generation aircraft of the Indian Air Force is more than 10 times that of the Myanmar Air Force. However, in terms of the army, the strength of the Myanmar army is not bad. The Myanmar Army even has certain advantages over the garrison of the Indian Eastern Army.
At present, the Myanmar army has a total of more than 500,000 troops, second only to Vietnam among Southeast Asian countries. Among them, the Myanmar Army has more than 400,000 troops, which is the absolute main force. The Myanmar Army has 10 directly subordinate motorized infantry divisions, which are relatively well-equipped and belong to the main combat force of Myanmar. In addition, there are more than 400 infantry battalions under its jurisdiction, mainly light infantry, and the number of heavy weapons is relatively small. Of course, compared with the standardized composite battalions of neighboring countries, it is completely the armed forces of two eras.
VT1A tank
Currently, the Myanmar Army has several hundred tanks. Among them, the relatively old Type 62 and Type 63 light tanks reached more than 100 units. These tanks are already very old, and in recent years, Vietnam has introduced a domestic version of light tanks to replace the Type 62 and Type 63 light tanks. Myanmar has limited funds, and as the saying goes, good steel is used on the blade. Since 2018, Myanmar has imported more than 130 second-hand T72 tanks from Russia. Since it was originally a decommissioned product from Russia, it is extremely cheap.
For Myanmar, it had more than 130 second-generation and a half tanks overnight, enough to compete with the T72 tanks of the Indian Eastern Army. Of course, Myanmar also mainly has its own third-generation tanks. Myanmar imported 50 VT1A tanks from the mainland, an improved version of the MBT2000 tank, which can basically "talk and laugh" with the T90 tanks equipped by the Indian Army. In addition to this, the Myanmar Army has more than 100 Type 59 and Type 59 tanks. In recent years, these tanks have been upgraded and improved.
Burma Type 59 tank
Improved standards, basically referring to the level of Type 59D tanks, replaced artillery and fire control systems, capable of directly suppressing the T55 series tanks of the Indian Army. In short, although the gap between Myanmar's air force and navy and India is huge, from the actual situation of the Myanmar Army, the Myanmar Army, which has hundreds of tanks, even has a certain advantage in the garrison in the eastern region of the Indian Army.
In addition to tanks, the Myanmar Army also has some wheeled assault guns, rocket launchers, infantry fighting vehicles, etc. imported from the mainland, which are basically low-end versions, considering their own actual situation. All in all, Myanmar's overall strength is not as good as India's, but not too bad.
Indian Army
There are many more series of stories about Myanmar, and the author will talk to you slowly in future articles.