Myanmar military using paramotors and gyrocopters for aerial attacks on civilians, opposition forces

Myanmar’s Military Deploys Low-Tech Aircraft in Escalating Attacks on Civilians

Myanmar’s military has increasingly turned to commercial paramotors and gyrocopters to expand its aerial attack capabilities against civilians and opposition forces as the country’s civil war intensifies, according to a report released Monday by human rights organization Fortify Rights.

The military began using paramotors—essentially motorized paragliders—in early 2024, while the first documented gyrocopter attack occurred in March of the same year. These ultralight aircraft are being deployed to drop mortar shells by hand on civilian targets across Myanmar’s central regions.

“The Myanmar military has found new ways to kill civilians from the sky using paramotors and gyrocopters equipped with manually-dropped, unguided explosives,” said Chit Seng of Fortify Rights in a statement accompanying the report.

The deadliest attack documented occurred in October when a paramotor dropped two shells on anti-election protesters attending a candlelight vigil in Sagaing region, killing at least 24 people. In another incident, a gyrocopter attacked a hospital in the same region, killing the chief physician and two other staff members. Fortify Rights verified these attacks through eyewitness interviews.

Myanmar has been embroiled in civil conflict since February 2021, when the military ousted the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi. The coup triggered widespread resistance that evolved into armed conflict across much of the country. According to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, more than 7,700 civilians have been killed since the coup began.

The attacks using these low-tech aircraft have been concentrated in Myanmar’s central lowlands—including Sagaing, Magway, Mandalay, Ayeyarwady, and Bago regions—where the relatively flat terrain enables low-altitude flight. These areas are predominantly opposition-controlled territories with limited aerial defense capabilities.

Despite their simplicity, these aircraft offer strategic advantages for the military. They are inexpensive, easy to operate, can be launched from open fields, and can remain airborne for approximately three hours while carrying 30 to 40 mortar shells.

“Paramotors are deployed in areas where armed actors are less sophisticated or lack firepower,” explained Morgan Michaels, an analyst with the International Institute of Strategic Studies who was not involved in the Fortify Rights study but has tracked similar patterns. “We can infer, then, that they also help reduce strain on the air force, allowing the Tatmadaw to redirect more advanced air assets to borderland peripheries where anti-government militias operate.”

The Fortify Rights data shows a significant increase in these attacks beginning in July, coinciding with the military government’s announcement of upcoming elections. Attacks surged in December as voting commenced in what critics have dismissed as a sham election designed to legitimize military rule. The third and final round of voting concluded recently amid widespread international criticism.

“The pattern of attacks has intensified in parallel with the junta’s efforts to consolidate control over central Myanmar, intimidate civilians, and assert authority ahead of its multi-phase sham elections,” the report stated.

In total, Fortify Rights documented 304 paramotor and gyrocopter attacks specifically targeting civilians between December 2024 and January 2026. The Armed Conflict Location and Event Data database recorded approximately 350 total incidents involving these aerial vehicles during roughly the same period.

The effectiveness of these low-tech aircraft highlights a significant vulnerability in the opposition’s capabilities. Despite the fact that ethnic minority militias and pro-democracy “People’s Defense Forces” have captured substantial territory from the military, many opposition groups remain poorly equipped to counter aerial threats.

“It shows that the Tatmadaw can still dominate the battlespace across central Myanmar and opposition groups cannot protect civilians against deliberate or disproportional aerial attacks,” Michaels noted.

While many countries have imposed sanctions prohibiting military equipment sales to Myanmar, some nations—notably China and Russia—continue to supply the regime. A separate analysis released by Amnesty International on Monday reported that aviation fuel continues to enter the country via “ghost ships” that disable their tracking systems to avoid detection.

Fortify Rights has called on governments to strengthen sanctions enforcement to prevent components for paramotors and gyrocopters from reaching Myanmar’s military, urging “U.N. member states must strictly enforce existing sanctions against the Myanmar military junta and issue new sanctions that effectively prohibit the sale or transfer of arms, jet fuel, and dual-use equipment or technologies.”