• Military Menu                       

• Introduction
• Systems
• Facilities
• Agencies
• Industry
• Operations
• Countries
• Hot Documents
• News
• Reports
• Policy
• Budget
• Congress
• Links

• WMD
• Intelligence
• Homeland Security
• Space

BTR-3E / BTR-3U Guardian

Myanmar appears to have acquired about a dozen BTR-3 APCs from Ukraine, not a thousand. The Ukraine government reported to the UN Registry of Conventional Armaments that it had actually shipped 10 BTR-3U to Burma/Myanmar during 2003. Myanmar may become the largest foreign operator of Ukrainian BTR-3 armored personnel carriers, and the territory of this country may begin production of tanks and armored personnel carriers according to Ukrainian drawings and from Ukrainian components. There were sightings of the BTR-3 during the supression of the public uprising after the 2021 military coup, but not in great numbers, suggesting the actual number on hand was rather small. In contrast. publicly released photography has depicted some two dozen of the imported Chinese PTL-02 / WMA-301 assault guns, which probably represents the entire inventory of this weapon.

Since 1996 there has been an embargo on the export of arms and military equipment from EU member states to Burma/Myanmar. The embargo specifically prohibits the export, directly or indirectly, of items including “All-wheel-drive utility vehicles capable of off-road use that have been manufactured or fitted with ballistic protection, and profiled armour for such vehicles”. However the embargo does not explicitly mention components and it appeared that the German government had chosen to interpret this embargo loosely, despite the appalling human rights record of the Burma/Myanmar security forces. Deutz engines from Germany are incorporated into the Ukrainian BTR-3U Armoured Personnel Carriers.

Diplomats are paid to lie for their country. In 2009 Ukraine told the US Government it was no longer exporting weapons to Burma. The Ukrainian government claimed it was "just wrapping up existing contracts", and had been reducing its exports to Burma since 2005. In 2008 Ukrainian exports to Burma were said to be "as good as zero" in part due to previous U.S. warnings, and Ukraine had not signed any new contracts with Burma in the last two and one half years. Current exports were just spare parts. The remaining business was so small that the company involved had recalled all of its workers from Burma.

Acording to some sources, by 2004, Ukraine had transferred to Myanmar at least 1,000 sets of spare parts so that it could assemble locally. As early as 2004 is is claimed that Myanmar signed a US$500 million contract with Ukraine to receive kits for 1000 units to be assembled in Myanmar. Deliveries to Myanmar in 2003-2006 were reported to include assembly kits for 92 BTR-3E armored personnel carriers. According to open sources, in 2007 Myanmar ordered 1,000 BTR-3U armored personnel carriers from Ukraine to be delivered by 2013, with 500 units actually in service by 2008. Other sources claim that as of 2013, Myanmar had assembled about 500 BTR-3U infantry fighting vehicles by itself. By one report the last batch of 368 units was delivered in January 2013. But as of late 2019, for unknown reasons, Myanmar had received only 210 (which does not prevent it from being the largest foreign operator of BTR-3 family vehicles).

The BTR-3 is a modern Ukrainian armored personnel carrier developed by the Kharkiv Design Bureau for Mechanical Engineering named after OO Morozov. Is a further development of the BTR-80 design. It is designed to transport personnel of motorized infantry units and their fire support in combat. Armored personnel carriers are used to equip units capable of conducting combat operations in various conditions, including the use of weapons of mass destruction by the enemy.

BTR-3E is the most successful domestic project in the segment of light armored vehicles. Despite the fact that the main operator of these vehicles is not the Armed Forces of Ukraine, BTR-3 was also exported to other countries. Among them, the leading place is occupied by Myanmar. BTR-3 armored personnel carrierhas become a real hit of the Ukrainian defense and is delivered to many countries around the world, including Thailand, Azerbaijan, Nigeria, UAE, Sudan, and Chad.

Myanmar Armed Forces are interested in continuing cooperation with Ukraine in the production of modern wheeled armored vehicles. This became known to the correspondents of the military-informant.com portal in early 2016. Myanmar expected to purchase even more Ukrainian armored personnel carriers, which proved themselves during the border crisis with China in early 2015.

Myanmar became one of the buyers of new Ukrainian armored personnel carriers BTR-3U, when it signed the first contract in 2003 for the supply of ten of the 8-wheeled combat vehicles. After receiving the first experimental batch, it was decided to organize licensed production of machine kits supplied from Ukraine, directly on the territory of Myanmar. By 2016 Myanmar was produced about 50 armored personnel carriers with the option for more.

After the organized military coup in Myanmar, the military took to the streets to quell protests. Among them, many Ukrainian armored personnel carriers BTR-3U were seen. According to Radio Liberty, on February 14, a Reuters journalist in Myanmar, Tu Ang, distributed a video of a suffocated armored personnel carrier driving through the country's streets. This video was then posted by former European Union ambassador to Myanmar Christian Schmidt. "The BTR-3U is equipped with a 30 mm gun, a 7.62 mm machine gun, a 30 mm automatic grenade launcher and anti-tank guided weapons. What does he do among civilians?", emphasizing the Ukrainian origin of armored vehicles.

As explained by the spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Oleg Nikolenko, Ukraine sold these ATTS to Myanmar back in 2004, and cannot be responsible for the fact that they are now used in this way. And now Kyiv on February 12 has co-authored a UN Human Rights Council resolution calling for refraining from violence and restoring the rule of law in Myanmar.

According to the Stockholm Peace Research Institute, Myanmar has spent $2.4 billion on weapons in the past decade. Most bought from China, but Russia's share also rose to 800 million dollars. On the day of the coup, Russian armoured vehicles were also on the streets of Myanmar. After the West's ban on the purchase of weapons, its supplies from the Russian Federation began.

Ukraine has not yet received notifications from the European Union or the United States about the possible use of military equipment in Myanmar, the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine said in response to a request from Radio Liberty. Ukraine reportedly signed an agreement on military-technical cooperation with Myanmar in 2018, almost three years before the military coup in the Asian country. "Military-technical cooperation between Ukraine and Myanmar is carried out within the framework of the Agreement between the Government of Ukraine and the Government of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar on military-technical cooperation (signed on October 9, 2018, effective from June 18, 2019). The implementation of the provisions of this agreement is carried out in accordance with the national legislation of states and international law, "- said in response to the Department of Military-Technical Policy, Armament and Military Equipment of the Ministry of Defense.

The agency also noted that it has not received any requests from Ukraine's foreign partners for the supply of weapons and equipment to Myanmar, but is ready to act in accordance with national and international law if necessary. "As of March 2021, the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine has not received any appeals or warnings from European and American partners regarding the supply of weapons and military equipment to Myanmar. In the event of restrictions and sanctions on the supply of arms and military goods to Myanmar, the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine will act in accordance with national law, international obligations under Ukraine's membership in the UN, OSCE and international export control regimes, strictly adhering to at the same time, the restrictions imposed by the UN Security Council Resolutions, ”the agency said.

According to the response, the Defense Ministry has no information on the specific amount of military equipment and goods purchased by Myanmar. Earlier, Ukrspetsexport, a company that exports military equipment, explained to Radio Svoboda that it did not manage such information. The editorial office appealed to the state concern Ukroboronprom, which includes Ukrspetsexport, and is awaiting a response.