Myanmar: The Fourth Strongest Army in Southeast Asia

Myanmar ranked 31st in the 2017 Global Firepower Index, which categorises the military strength of 133 countries based on 50 factors, including military budget, manpower and equipment, among others.

In Southeast Asia, Myanmar has the fourth strongest armed forces behind Indonesia at 14th, Vietnam at 16th and Thailand at 20th, according to the index.

China scored the highest among Asia’s militaries, occupying the third place behind global powerhouses United States and Russia in the first two places, respectively.

Other Asian countries boosting powerful militaries are India at 4th, Japan at 7th, South Korea at 12th, Pakistan at 13th and Taiwan at 18th.

The Global Firepower Index showed Myanmar with 516,000 military personnel, including 406,000 in active service and 110,000 in reserve.

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It noted that 21.63 million of the country’s over 56 million people are fit for military service.

In terms of strength, Myanmar has 592 combat tanks, 1358 armoured fighting vehicles, 108 self-propelled artillery pieces, 884 towed artillery pieces and 108 rocket launchers.

The country’s air assets consist of 56 fighter aircraft, 77 attack aircraft, 97 transport aircraft, 58 trainer aircraft and 86 helicopters, nine of which are attack helicopters.

Its navy assets comprise five frigates, three corvettes, 40 patrol craft and one mine warfare vessel.

Myanmar’s military budget in 2017 amounted to US$2.4 billion (K3.21 trillion), according to the Global Firepower Index.