Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, the commander-in-chief of the Tatmadaw (Myanmar Defense Services), commissioned 10 military aircraft into service at a ceremony commemorating the 70th anniversary of Myanmar’s air force on December 15.
The new aircraft include six Russian Yak-130 fighter jets, two Dutch Fokker-70 airliners, and two French-Italian ATR 42-320 airliners. The commissioning ceremony was held at the Air Training School at the Meiktila Air Base in Mandalay Region.
“The air force proved its ability to crush the multi-colored insurgency that broke out soon after independence was regained with a few available planes. The air force brilliantly served its duties in driving out alien intrusion and crushing internal insurgency together the army, the navy, and the people,” the commander-in-chief said during the ceremony, according to his own Facebook page.
The arrival of the new aircraft would play a core role in “enhancing the prowess of the troops in controlling the rival counterparts for a battle victory” and would be “one of the main steps toward a Standard Army” – a vague term used to describe the army’s internal reform process that is taking place parallel to Myanmar’s abortive peace process.
“Throughout successive eras, the Tatmadaw has sacrificed a lot of lives, blood, and sweat in order to safeguard national sovereignty. In achieving eternal peace, it will also play a part in the six-point policy of the Tatmadaw under the leadership of the government,” he added.
Myanmar’s military is famously independent of government control.
On November 8, the Russia-based Tass news agency quoted Mikhali Petukhov, the deputy director of Russia’s Service for Military and Technical Cooperation, as saying that a light Yak-130 is worth about US$15 million (K20.4 billion) and that Myanmar signed a sales contract with Russia in 2015, after three years of study.
Myanmar currently has a total of 12 Yak-130 jets. The first three planes were delivered in 2016 and the other three in 2017, according to Petukhov. He added that more are expected to arrive in 2018.
The Yak-130 is a new-generation two-seat combat trainer jet designed for training and combat in mild or harsh weather conditions against air or ground targets.
Aside from Myanmar, the jet is operated by the air forces of Algeria, Bangladesh, Belarus, Russia, and Syria.
