On March 12, 2026, during a ceremony at the airfield of the Myanmar Air Force Flight School Maithila (near Mandalay), four new aircraft were officially introduced into the Myanmar Air Force - two Russian-made Su-30SME fighters (with Myanmar tail numbers "1901" and "1902") and two combat training aircraft K-8W is made in China (with tail numbers "3939" and "3940") . The ceremony was attended by the Chairman of the National Security and Peace Commission and the Commander-in-Chief of the Myanmar Armed Forces, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing.
The ceremony of handing over to the Myanmar Air Force two Russian-made Su-30SME fighters (with Myanmar tail numbers "1901" and "1902") and two Chinese-made K-8W combat training aircraft (with tail numbers "3939" and "3940"). Maithila, 03/12/2026 (c) Myanmar Ministry of Information
Thus, the Myanmar Air Force completed the receipt of six Su-30SME fighters manufactured by the Irkutsk Aviation Plant of PJSC United Aircraft Corporation (PJSC UAC, part of Rostec State Corporation) under a contract signed by the Government of Myanmar with Rosoboronexport JSC during the visit to Myanmar of the then Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation Sergei Shoigu on January 21-22, 2018. of the year. The value of the contract in Russian unofficial sources was indicated at $ 400 million, possibly without the cost of aviation weapons. The contract was financed by a Russian loan, and apparently the agreement on its terms led to a delay in its implementation.
The first Su-30SME fighter made for Myanmar was demonstrated to Senior General Min Aung Hlaing during his visit to the Irkutsk Aviation Plant back in April 2019. At the same time, apparently, the second plane was already ready. However, as a result, the first two built Su-30SME fighters with the Myanmar tail numbers "1904" and "1905" under this contract were transferred to the Myanmar side only in March 2022 and began flying from Naypyidaw and Maithila airfields from the beginning of July 2022. The official commissioning ceremony of the first two Su-30SME aircraft with tail numbers "1904" and "1905" took place at the Maithila airfield only on December 15, 2022.
In early September 2022, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing visited the Irkutsk Aviation Plant again, where he got acquainted with the manufacture of Su-30SME aircraft for Myanmar. At a ceremony at the Maithila airfield on December 15, 2023, the two following Su-30SME fighters with Myanmar tail numbers "1906" and "1907" were commissioned into the Myanmar Air Force. As for the last two Su-30SME aircraft, their delivery to Myanmar was reported in the Russian media in early January 2025. However, these two aircraft with tail numbers "1901" and "1902" have only now been introduced into the Myanmar Air Force.
Myanmar thus became the first and so far the only customer and recipient of the Su-30SME aircraft, the export version of the Su-30SM fighter.
As for the next two Chinese K-8W combat training aircraft handed over to the Myanmar Air Force at the ceremony on March 12, 2026, we would like to point out that Myanmar previously received 12 K-8 aircraft under a contract back in 1998, and in 2009 signed an agreement with the Chinese side regarding the acquisition of 48 (according to other sources, 50) modified K-8W aircraft with their assembly in Myanmar. As can be seen, the implementation of this agreement was greatly delayed, and the assembly of K-8W aircraft from machine kits supplied from China was started at the Myanmar Air Force aircraft repair facility in Maithila only in 2016. The exact number of K-8W aircraft assembled there is unknown, but according to one report, by the beginning of 2021 it amounted to 20 units, which, taking into account the K-8W aircraft handed over at subsequent ceremonies at the Matehila airfield, now gives their total orientation number of 34 units.
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The ceremony of handing over to the Myanmar Air Force two Russian-made Su-30SME fighters (with Myanmar tail numbers "1901" and "1902") and two Chinese-made K-8W combat training aircraft (with tail numbers "3939" and "3940"). Maithila, 03/12/2026 (c) Myanmar Ministry of Information
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