Kachin Rebel Shot Down Russian-made Mi-35 Helicopter Of Tatmadaw

On Monday 3 May 2021 at 10:20 hrs local time, Kachin Independence Army (KIA) a rebel group in Myanmar’s mountainous north claimed to have shot down a military helicopter with a FN-6 Man-Portable Air-Defense System (MANPADS). Myanmar Times reports suggest that the lost helicopter is a Russian-made Mi-35P attack helicopter.

An official from the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) — one of the country’s most powerful ethnic factions — said it struck back after airstrikes by the military near the northern town of Momauk.

Bravo #KIA! Viva la Resistance! A game-changer: #Myanmar's revolutionary Kachin Independence Army (KIA) shot down SAC regime's Soviet-made Mi-35 Phoenix attack helicopter. Terror-Chief Min Aung Hlaing, using air strikes to terrorise minority villagers. @HkanhpaSadan @nslwin pic.twitter.com/ChZJE9niiY

— maung zarni (@drzarni) May 3, 2021

“The military council launched airstrikes in that area since around 8 or 9 this morning… using jet fighters and also fired shots using a helicopter — so we shot back at them,” the KIA’s information department head, Colonel Naw Bu, said. He would not comment on what weaponry was used to bring the chopper down.

The KIA in Kachin state near the border to China has been in conflict with Myanmar’s military rulers for decades, seeking an independent state, with the conflict largely unconnected to February’s coup.

The rebel group, the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) said it had shot down a military helicopter near the town of Moemauk in Kachin province after days of military air raids. A small video was shown on twitter, but the type of helicopter could not been confirmed from this footage.

The Myanmar Defence Force has fifteen Mi-35P attack helicopters in its inventory of which one is reported crashed in January 2013. The main operating base is Meiktila AB (Central Sector Operations Center – SOC), but the unit has detachments at Lashio (South Eastern SOC) and Naypyitaw/Intl (Central SOC). GDC learnt citing Myanmar Times that the Myanmar Defence Force also has a detachment at Nampong air base near Myitkyina in the state of Kachin.

© 2021, GDC. © GDC and www.globaldefensecorp.com. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to www.globaldefensecorp.com with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.