Myanmar Presents Domestic BTR-4 Armored Personnel Carrier for First Time

At a parade marking the 81st anniversary of Myanmar Armed Forces Day, a locally produced BTR-4 armored personnel carrier was publicly presented for the first time. The country had acquired a production license from Ukraine prior to 2018.

DRM News published footage of the parade.

The video shows the BTR-4 equipped with a combat module of an unspecified type, fitted with a machine gun and a grenade launcher armament.

The footage also shows several light tanks based on the 2S1 Gvozdika chassis, fitted with a turret from the Chinese WMA301 wheeled tank armed with a 105 mm gun.

License to produce Ukrainian armored vehicles

Before the 2021 coup that brought a military junta back to power in Myanmar, Ukraine cooperated closely with the country on armored vehicles.

Myanmar was among foreign buyers of the BTR-3E, and the Kharkiv Tractor Plant produced MT-LB-based vehicles equipped with the Shkval combat module at the country’s request.

Export documents indicate that an agreement on licensed production in Myanmar of BTR-4U armored personnel carriers, 2S1U self-propelled artillery systems, and light tanks based on them was concluded no later than 2018.

Serial production at a plant in Myanmar was expected to begin in the second half of 2020 with at least partial localization, but until the release of the parade footage, there had been no confirmation that the project had been implemented.

It is reported that at least the production of armored hulls was planned to be established domestically, rather than limited to final assembly.

Key components, including transmissions, gearboxes, and control systems, were expected to be supplied by Ukrainian manufacturers, at least in the initial phase.

It remains unclear whether the vehicles shown were produced before the suspension of cooperation with Ukraine or are newly built units assembled with alternative components.

In addition, in 2020, Ukraine’s state-owned company Ukrspecexport signed a contract with an Asian country, likely Myanmar, to build an armored vehicle repair plant.

The contract, with a three-year implementation period, covered a full range of services, from design documentation to the supply of modern production equipment.

The facility was intended to enable the overhaul of various types of light armored vehicles and the production of a wide range of spare parts.