According to the Russsian Ministry of Defense, Russia will supply Myanmar with anti-aircraft missile and cannon systems, Orlan-10E unmanned aerial vehicles, and radar stations. The document was signed on January 22 in the presence of the Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation, General of the Army Sergei Shoigu, who is on an official visit to the Republic of the Union of Myanmar, and the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Myanmar, Senior General Min Aung Hline.  On behalf of the Russian side, the agreement was signed by the deputy head of the Russian military department, Colonel-General Alexander Fomin.

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Russian-made Orlan-10 UAV (Picture source: Army Recognition)

The Orlan-10 unmanned aerial system comprises from two to four UAVs, a catapult launcher, and payloads. Each vehicle has a maximum take-off weight of 18 kg and a wingspan of 3.1 m and carries a 3 kg payload. Powered by a piston engine, the Orlan-10E has an endurance of up to 10 hours, a maximum flight range of 300 km, a flight speed of 70-150 km/h, and a flight altitude of up to 5,000 m. The vehicle takes off against a 15 m/s wind. The Orlan-10E can be controlled at a distance of up to 100 km via radio channel.

The Pantsir-S1 is an air defense missile-gun system designed to protect vital small-size and big military areas, industrial targets and land forces units and reinforced the air defense units responsible for the protection of troops and military installations against precision-guided air attack from low and extremely low altitudes. The mobile version of the Pantsir-S1 system includes a combat vehicle (up to six vehicles in a battery), surface-to-air guided missiles, 30mm rounds, and a transporter-loader vehicle (one per two combat vehicles).

Pantsir-S1 missile-gun air defense system (Picture source: Vitaly Kuzmin)

Since 2001, Russia and Myanmar have created the entire legal and regulatory framework for effective and mutually beneficial bilateral military-technical cooperation, which is developing dynamically. Russia supplied Myanmar with 30 MiG-29 aircraft, 12 combat training Yak-130, six Su-30SME, 10 Mi-24 and Mi-35P helicopters, 8 Pechora-2M anti-aircraft missile systems, as well as radar stations, armored vehicles and artillery systems. Maintenance and modernization of equipment is carried out in a joint service technical center created on the territory of Myanmar for servicing all types of equipment, both aviation and armored vehicles.

Also, in the past five years, military cooperation between the two states has been intensively developing. Units of the Armed Forces of Myanmar regularly take part in the International Army Games and combat training events, including last year they took part in the Caucasus-2020 strategic command and staff exercise.

In addition, in 2018, an Intergovernmental Agreement was signed on a simplified procedure for the entry of warships into the ports of Russia and Myanmar.

The command of the Armed Forces of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar is showing interest in other modern Russian weapons systems.