Myanmar junta chief Min Aung Hlaing’s first visit to China since his 2021 coup included trips to the Kunming University of Science and Technology University and the Zhongyue Aviation Firefighting-Drone Company in Chongqing.
Junta media reported that he observed drone technology for agriculture, construction, and surveillance in Kunming. In Chongqing, the regime chief was full of praise after witnessing a demonstration of advanced rescue drones.
Min Aung Hlaing’s focus on Chinese drones comes amid his junta’s increasing reliance on unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in its counteroffensive launched early this year against resistance forces, according to battlefield sources.
The regime and its allied militias, including the Pyu Saw Htee, are deploying high-tech drones legally purchased from international manufacturers, said the sources.
The junta depended heavily on long-range artillery and its air force in the fighting from 2021 to 2023, but has leaned more toward drones since early 2024, according to resistance fighters.
“They are using drones in every operation this year,” a resistance fighter from Karenni (Kayah) State said. “They have realized how effective drones are after suffering heavy blows from our drone attacks.”
Resistance drone units have played a significant role in offensives in Kachin, Karen, Rakhine and Chin states as well as during the Brotherhood Alliance’s Operation 1027 in northern Shan State.
They have been credited in the capture of the junta’s North Eastern Command in the northern Shan capital of Lashio, as well as bases and hilltop tactical commands across the country.
The regime appears to have learnt from these defeats, deploying drones in its counteroffensives.
On Oct. 30, three civilians including an eight-year-old child were killed when the junta-allied Pa-O National Army mistakenly fired drones at a convoy of fleeing residents on the Shan-Karenni border, according to resistance groups.
The military regime is also supplying Pyu Saw Htee militias in central Myanmar with drones and other weapons, said resistance groups there.
“None of the weapons that Pyu Saw Htee militias are using are homemade,” said Kyar Khin Sein, leader of the anti-regime Myaung Drone Force.
“They are all supplied by the military regime. They don’t have the knowledge or resources to produce weapons by themselves. The military provides them with drones and all their other weapons.”
Evidence of the regime supplying drones to militias surfaced when the junta-backed Warazup militia in Kachin State recently released a video clip featuring a Chinese-made CZ 55 VTOL drone.
The regime’s drone warfare escalated on Oct. 22, with its first kamikaze drone attack on Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) headquarters in territory controlled by KNLA Brigade 7.
Anti-regime groups said they were now on the alert for drones, which are doing increasing damage.
“The military regime is using various drones, both military and commercial,” commented a drone expert who asked for anonymity.
“A long-range military drone was seized [from regime troops] in [Shan State’s] Nawnghkio,” he said, adding that such sophisticated equipment required extra manpower and add-ons to operate.
“The junta is using commercial drones to drop bombs since they are cheaper and more widely available than military drones. They are also simpler to use, but more vulnerable to jammers. However, anti-regime groups and ethnic armed organizations have little access to jammers so are unable to counter junta drone attacks.”
Junta media reported that regime Defense Minister Tin Aung San discussed possible cooperation with Chinese manufacturers of military drones and other aerial defense technologies on his trip to Beijing in September.
Min Aung Hlaing appears to have followed up on that mission during his own trip to Kunming and Chongqing last week.
