Transport and close air support for the army against communist and Karen insurgents.

Burma was in civil war within months of independence in January 1948, and the young air force was used as flying support for an army fighting communists and Karen forces. It bought its first real combat aircraft for this war: Spitfires from Israel and Seafires from Britain in 1953, Provosts in 1954 and Sea Furies in 1957–1958. Wikipedia records aircraft deployed to Lashio for close air support. Neither sortie nor loss figures are available in the English-language sources consulted.

Resultado The insurgencies were contained but not ended; Burma’s internal wars have run in some form ever since.

Detail on this period rests largely on Wikipedia’s summary of Maung Aung Myoe’s history; figures were not corroborated.

Volar para

Burmese Air Force

Dónde

Central Burma, Karen areas, Shan and northern hills

Junto a

Ninguna fuerza aérea aliada

Contra

Communist Party of Burma and Karen insurgent forces

Aeronave

Volcán, Seafire, Provost, Sea Fury, Dakota

Fuentes

Wikipedia · Wikipedia

Supported army operations against Kuomintang troops who had retreated from China, and intercepted their air supply.

Kuomintang troops who had crossed into Burma from 1950 were supplied by air, including CIA-backed flights in 1951, and Burma complained to the United Nations in March 1953. On 15 February 1961 an unmarked Republic of China Air Force PB4Y Privateer carrying supplies was intercepted by three Sea Furies and brought down near the Thai border; the bomber and one Burmese fighter came down in Thailand. It remains the air force’s only reported air-to-air victory; an Irrawaddy columnist noted in 2026 that its last air-to-air combat dates back more than six decades.

Resultado The KMT were driven into Thailand and Laos after joint Sino-Burmese operations in 1960–1961.

Details of the 1961 interception differ slightly between Wikipedia articles; the Burmese Army is credited with the downing in the Kuomintang article.

Volar para

Burmese Air Force

Dónde

Shan State and the Thai border

Junto a

Ninguna fuerza aérea aliada

Contra

Kuomintang forces in Burma and Republic of China Air Force (supply flights)

Aeronave

Hawker Sea Fury

Pérdidas

1 aeronave · 1 muertoOn 15 February 1961 one Burmese fighter was lost and one airman killed, according to Wikipedia’s air force article; the Privateer’s crew lost five killed and two captured, according to Wikipedia’s Sea Fury article citing Lednicer.

Fuentes

Wikipedia · Wikipedia · Wikipedia · The Irrawaddy

Air strikes against Kachin Independence Army positions.

Air strikes began on 26 December 2012, and on 2 January 2013 the government confirmed that it had carried them out, describing its operations as self-defence. The KIA said strikes continued for six days around its headquarters at Laiza. The US State Department expressed concern and UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urged Myanmar to avoid endangering civilians. Wikipedia’s K-8 article says K-8s struck KIA positions in December 2012 and January 2013. Further air strikes were reported in Tanai Township in March 2018.

Resultado Fighting continued; the conflict merged into the wider civil war after 2021.

Casualties from air attack in this period are not separately documented in the sources consulted.

Volar para

Fuerza Aérea de Myanmar

Dónde

Kachin State

Junto a

Ninguna fuerza aérea aliada

Contra

Kachin Independence Army

Aeronave

K-8, Mi-35, Mi-17

Fuentes

Wikipedia · Wikipedia

Air strikes against the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army.

From 9 February 2015 the army fought the MNDAA in Kokang with air support. On 13 March 2015 bombs dropped by A-5C jets fell on a village in Gengma County, Yunnan, killing four people and wounding nine. China demanded an investigation and threatened a decisive response, deploying fighters and surface-to-air missiles to the border according to Wikipedia; Myanmar apologised.

Resultado The MNDAA was pushed back; Myanmar apologised to China for the Yunnan bombing.

Volar para

Fuerza Aérea de Myanmar

Dónde

Kokang region, northern Shan State

Junto a

Ninguna fuerza aérea aliada

Contra

Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army

Aeronave

A-5C

Pérdidas

No aircraft losses reported.

Fuentes

Wikipedia · Wikipedia

Air strikes, close support and transport for the military government’s forces against the People’s Defence Forces of the National Unity Government and ethnic armed organisations.

Air power has been the military government’s main advantage since the 1 February 2021 takeover. The UN human rights office, as quoted by the Irrawaddy, recorded 982 civilians killed by air strikes in 2025, including 232 children, up from 641 in 2024; for August 2025 to January 2026 it counted 476 civilian deaths from air strikes among 702 verified civilian deaths. Among the deadliest attacks: Hpakant, 23 October 2022, at least 80 killed according to the KIO, which the military called false news; Pazigyi, 11 April 2023, at least 100 killed and 171 by BBC Burmese’s count, which the military confirmed as an attack on a PDF ceremony; Kanan, 7 January 2024, 17 killed including nine children according to local residents, which state media denied; a school in Kyauktaw, 12 September 2025, 22 killed according to local media; Mrauk-U hospital, 10 December 2025, at least 33 killed according to the Arakan Army; and a Kyauktaw market on 28 September 2026, at least 33 (Arakan Army) or 50 (UN) killed. The military government says it strikes only legitimate military targets.

Resultado Continuo.

Casualty counts come from the UN, the National Unity Government, ethnic armed organisations, local media and monitors, and differ; the military government rarely publishes figures. Aircraft loss claims are unconfirmed.

Volar para

Fuerza Aérea de Myanmar

Dónde

Sagaing, Magway, Kachin, Shan, Karenni, Karen, Chin and Rakhine

Junto a

Ninguna fuerza aérea aliada

Contra

People’s Defence Forces (National Unity Government), Kachin Independence Army, Arakan Army, Karen National Liberation Army, Karenni resistance forces and Other ethnic armed organisations

Aeronave

Su-30SME, MiG-29, Yak-130, K-8W, FTC-2000G, F-7, A-5C, Mi-35, Mi-17, Y-12

Salidas

—ACLED counted 1,716 air strikes in 2024 and 2,165 from January to late November 2025 (as reported by Al Jazeera).

Pérdidas

13 aircraft13 aircraft claimed shot down by resistance groups from the coup to July 2025, according to the Irrawaddy’s count, plus about ten lost to mechanical failure or weather; further claims since (Mi-17 on 23 June 2026). Most claims are unverified and the military usually attributes losses to technical failure.

Fuentes

OHCHR · The Irrawaddy · Al Jazeera · Wikipedia · TRT World · VOA · Wikipedia · The Irrawaddy · Al Jazeera · OHCHR · The Irrawaddy · Al Jazeera · Amnesty International · OHCHR · Wikipedia · The Irrawaddy · US Treasury

Air strikes against the offensive of the MNDAA, TNLA and Arakan Army and their allies.

The offensive began on 27 October 2023. A China-brokered truce agreed in Kunming took effect on 11 January 2024, but the alliance accused the military of breaking it with air strikes within two days. Fighting resumed in June 2024 and Lashio fell on 3 August 2024.

Resultado The MNDAA took the Northeastern Command headquarters in Lashio on 3 August 2024.

Part of the wider civil war; listed separately because it was the largest single offensive against the military government.

Volar para

Fuerza Aérea de Myanmar

Dónde

Northern Shan State

Junto a

Ninguna fuerza aérea aliada

Contra

Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army, Ta’ang National Liberation Army, Arakan Army and Kachin Independence Army

Aeronave

FTC-2000G, Mi-17, K-8W

Pérdidas

2 avionesOne FTC-2000G and one Mi-17 shot down, according to Wikipedia; both claimed by the KIA and allies.

Fuentes

Wikipedia · The Irrawaddy