Irrawaddy-March 1
Myanmar’s navy has played an insignificant role in the country’s decades-old civil wars since independence in 1948. The navy has been barely deployed except in battles against the Communist Party of Burma and Karen National Union in the Ayeyarwady delta in the early years of the civil war. While the army battled rebel groups in the Kachin, Shan and Karen hills, the navy was of little significance. The navy was established after independence in 1948 but remained modest until an expansion in the 1990s. It reportedly now has 19,000 sailors and 122 vessels, including two submarines and four frigates. The navy has five naval regional commands based in Yangon, Mawlamyine in Mon State, Kyaukphyu in Rakhine State, Haiggyi Island in Ayeyarwady Region and Myeik in Tanintharyi Region. The navy lacks combat experience and is limited to joint military exercises off the Rakhine coast. The navy patrols the coast of Tanintharyi and Rakhine and along the Ayeyarwady, Chindwin and Salween rivers and in the Ayeyarwady delta. It has been of limited use to the regime in Tanintharyi Region since the 2021 coup, where resistance attacks have taken place inland. The Rakhine coast is ideal for naval warfare with large rivers, including the Nat, Mayu, Kaladan, Lemyo, Thanzit and Kaleintaung, that flow from the Himalayan foothills into the Bay of Bengal. When the navy previously fought the Arakan Army (AA), ships were used to provide fire support, deliver weapons and food as well as impose blockades. The Danyawaddy naval command in Kyaukphyu has a submarine base and a naval fleet is based at Sane in the township. Before fighting broke out in Rakhine State in November last year, the AA was no threat to the regime’s naval bases and the navy was a strategic asset over the armed group. Since fighting broke out in Pauktaw on November 16, naval ships have sent reinforcements and supplies and provided fire support. However, the navy does not have separate combat forces, like marines, to launch naval operations. It does have a special unit like Navy Seals but they have not yet been spotted in operations. Read more at: https://www.irrawaddy.com/opinion/analysis/arakan-army-exposes-myanmars-naval-weaknesses.html
