Myanmar Military Adopts Drone Tactics Used by Anti-Junta Fighters

Flying at 1,500m or higher, the devices are out of reach of rebels' jammers

A Myanmar military drone tracked a car carrying anti-junta forces as it drove through the contested village of Moe Bye. Moments after it parked near a house, the operator dropped an explosive.

Myanmar has been mired in bloody conflict since the military seized power in a 2021 coup, sparking a widespread armed uprising that has seen their pro-democracy opponents take swathes of territory, while millions of civilians have been displaced.

Drone strikes have been crucial to the insurgents' successes, including pushing junta troops out of large areas in Myanmar's north, many of them near the border with China.

Now the military is adopting the equipment of the anti-coup fighters, using drones to drop mortars or guide artillery strikes and bombing runs by its Chinese and Russian-built air force.

"We were very weak in technology and suffered much," one front-line Myanmar military officer said. "We lost some military posts in the regions because of bombing by drones," he said, declining to be named for security reasons.

"Now we are also using drones for counter-attack. They used big jammers to block the signal. We also use jammers."

Early morning mist gives cover to Kayan National Army (KNA) personnel as they patrol Moe Bye, in the rugged jungle-covered hills that run along the border of Shan and Kayah states.

But when the weather clears, the skies open to the Myanmar military's new weapons.