Myanmar Air Force

A 12.7mm bullet was fired into the fuselage of UB-466, hitting pilot officer Peter as well,[clarification needed] breaking five of his ribs.By December 1964, the Burmese Air Force had 323 officers and 5,677 other ranks and it acquired Lockheed T-33 Shooting Star jet trainers and a new radar station, which could operate within a 120-mile (193-km) radius, was opened in Namsang.It also maintained airfield detachments in Lashio and Kengtung to cope with the insurgency of Communist Party of Burma in the northeast border region of the country.[citation needed] Since the Elbit contract was won in 1997, the air force had acquired at least one more squadron of F-7 and FT-7 aircraft from China, but these were not upgraded.Four Mil Mi-2, four PZL W-3 Sokol, and two Bell 205 helicopters were grouped as an air detachment stationed in Bogalay for "Operation Monediang" in October 1991.Four PZL W-3 Sokol helicopters, unarmed and used for troop transport carrying 20 airborne commandos, each flew 443 missions with 197 flying hours.[7] The air force also ordered 10 Mil Mi-35 gunship helicopters as part of a $71 million defence package signed in December 2009.[8] Despite these modernisation measures, the capability of the Myanmar Air Force remained questionable, due to its absence during the Battle of Border Post 9631 with Thailand and the rescue missions related to Cyclone Nargis in May 2008.[10] Since the military coup in February 2021, Myanmar Air Force aircraft have been used in airstrikes on villages,[11][unreliable source?]killing noncombatant civilians including elders, humanitarian workers and children while forcing thousands of others to flee their homes.[citation needed] Commander-in-Chief and Chief of Air Staff in chronological order: The rank insignia of commissioned officers.[12][26][27][28][29][23] Myanmar national insignia (white triangle with yellow field in the centre and borders in blue) is usually applied on six positions.[37][38] On 11 June 2021, a Beechcraft 1900 crashed on its landing approach to Pyin Oo Lwin's airport, killing 12 people including a senior Buddhist monk, the abbot of Zay Kone Monastery in Pyinmana.[43] On 16 January 2024, the Kachin Independence Army successfully shot down an FTC-2000G trainer/fighter of the Myanmar Air Force in the Namhpatkar area of northern Shan State.[44] In January 2024, a Myanmar Air Force Y-8 on a mission to evacuate troops who had sought refuge in Mizoram, India, overshot its landing in Lengpui Airport.[45] On 29 January 2024, the Karen National Liberation Army shot down a Junta helicopter above Myawaddy Township near the Thai border.During the incident Brigadier General Aye Min Naung, the 44th LI Division commander, Colonel Soe Tun Lwin, LI Battalion 9's acting commander, pilot Colonel Toe Oo and two army captains were supposedly killed according to military sources.[46] On 29 February 2024, one MiG-29SMT fighter of Myanmar Air Force crashed in southwest of Salin District, Magway Region.