Myanmar: State of Submarine Forces in ASEAN 2023 – 6

The sixth ASEAN country submarine force in my series concerns Myanmar.

2 boats in commission 

 

1x Kilo-class (Project 877EKM) ex-INS Sindhuvir 

Displacement 3,000 tonnes

Entered Service December 2020 

Myanmar's Kilo, UMS Minye Thainkhathu. Image courtesy Janes.
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1x Ming-class, Type 035B 

Displacement: 2,100 tonnes

Entered Service December 2021

Myanmar's Ming UMS Minye Kyaw Htin. Image Asia Pacific Defense Journal
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The Myanmar Navy faced a ‘happy’ situation when two strategically competing countries, India and China, transferred second-hand submarines to it.

Myanmar wedged between India and China. Map courtesy World Atlas.
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In March 2020, the Indian Navy transferred the 33 year old Sindhughosh-class Kilo Project 877EKM boat, INS Sindhuvir, to Myanmar, after it was refitted by Hindustan Shipyards, and this submarine was commissioned as the UMS Minye Theinkhathu. The Sindhuvir was ordered by India the IN in 1986 and commissioned in 1988.

 

In 2021 China transferred a 19 year or older ex-PLAN Type 035B Ming-class sub to Myanmar. The Ming-class were produced in China between 1969 and 2003, with four Type 035B variants built between 2000 and 2003). The sub entered Myanmar service in December 2021 as UMS Minye Kyaw Htin.

 

How extensive either submarine was refitted prior to delivery is unknown. Also unknown is the level of Myanmar crew training on these two very dissimilar subs. Extensive Indian and Chinese manning and maintenance is likely. The two subs may not constitute an efficient fighting force when fully Myanmar crewed.

 

There was some speculation in early 2022 that their transfer is actually a geopolitical and commercial competition between China and Russia (using India as a proxy). This may be no longer the case and the Myanmar Navy’s future modernisation will probably rely on the generosity of China. 

 

While the Indian Navy has long dominated the Bay of Bengal, Myanmar’s recent military construction on the Greater Coco Island, which included expanding a runway and building a radar station, has again alarmed Indian pundits. Some in India have a decades long belief that the island has been leased to the PLA to spy on India, including India’s Andaman Islands just to the south of Myanmar’s Coco Islands. Myanmar’s Coco Islands should not be confused with Australia’s Cocos (Keeling) Islands also located in the Indian Ocean. 

It is difficult to say whether Myanmar’s two old subs make much of an impact to the strategic situation.

Shawn Chung

June 6, 2023