Collin, J Def Stud Resour Manage 2012, 1:1 http://dx.doi.org/10.4172/2324-9315.1000e104 Journal of Defense Studies & Resource Management

Editorial a SciTechnol journal

reborn Myanmar assuming the path of political reform carries on Political ‘New Dawn’ in unimpeded and irreversibly as its political leaders has assured. The political reform will first allow the country to gain wider diplomatic Myanmar: Implications and acceptance beyond the region. An encouraging sign has been the decision by Australia and the European Union to lift sanctions on Future Prospects for the the country while the United States of America has also made a series of notable moves to enhance its diplomatic relations with Myanmar. Myanmar Navy Following which, international financial institutions will be allowed Koh S.L. Collin1* to provide much needed funds to assist Myanmar’s socioeconomic development. In fact, to this end, Japan has made a noteworthy Introduction move of forgiving Myanmar’s external debts and on top of which, offer funding assistance for the latter’s socioeconomic development Myanmar has always been given scant, almost negligible, mention projects. The eventual end-result will be an open Myanmar which in the field of study on naval modernisation in Asia. The first reason is integrated within the international community after decades of for this is the paucity of reliable information available. The second isolation. reason is that, based on what is being known about the Myanmar Navy’s modernization attempts, quantitatively and qualitatively they A New Dawn for Economic Growth were deemed to be insignificant compared to the phenomenal growth in capabilities of Myanmar’s neighbors in the region. The under- The second crucial development, which is linked to the first, is the researched state of affairs for the Myanmar Navy could have been essential opening of the economic sphere and this is where Myanmar justifiable a few decades back and possibly up till as recent as the early will benefit the most. With the concrete steps undertaken since the 2000s, since all along Myanmar has been considered a relatively small conduct of its first parliamentary elections in decades, Myanmar has player in the region’s geopolitics and naval arena, and its national attracted a swarm of foreign investors keen on getting their share security focus has been inward-centric premised on consolidation of the potential economic pie in a country that is blessed with vast of the regime’s political legitimacy in the face of significant internal natural resources and abundant room for development, as well as dissent and insurgencies. a new market in itself. For decades, the crown jewel of Myanmar’s economy has been the oil and gas (O&G) sector that has seen China However, in the light of new political developments in Myanmar for instance having owned a significant slice of the pie. With the which could potentially herald the beginning of a country reborn, opening up of Myanmar’s political and economic dimensions, more certainly in no insignificant manner. In so far the naval arena, for opportunities will become available to foreign O&G companies. Much decades a much neglected dimension, is concerned the future of interest has been placed in expanding Myanmar’s offshore marine Myanmar’s naval development necessitates a revisit. In this editorial, O&G development. Two countries are primarily interested in this the ongoing political reform and changes brought to Myanmar’s prospect: Bangladesh and Thailand. These two countries are in search economic and security dimensions are examined, using a wide variety of new sources of natural gas in particular to make up for anticipated of carefully considered open sources-a necessary measure in view of shortfalls in their national power needs. To date, it would appear that the paucity of official publications on the Myanmar Navy. It argues Bangkok has been the most successful in pushing for its projects in that these new developments will bring about potential room for Myanmar-owned offshore O&G blocks in the Bay of Bengal. However, growth of the country’s naval power which deserves greater attention in the foreseeable future. First, the economic, political and security Dhaka may have been disappointed when Yangon announced that it developments taking place in Myanmar will be discussed. has no plans to export its new gas finds. Nonetheless, the potential for Myanmar’s offshore O&G development remains significant, even Thereafter, the editorial looks at the contemporary evolution of more so than the onshore sector. The other notable area of interest is the Myanmar Navy to date in order to postulate the future trajectory Myanmar’s drive towards gradual industrialization, with the Dawei of Myanmar’s naval power. deep-sea port and special economic zone (SEZ) project being the centerpiece of this endeavor. The geostrategic position of Myanmar Political Reform in Myanmar makes it an attractive new destination for international shippers, The first crucial development is the current political reform assuming the Dawei port SEZ project takes off and turns into fruition. taking place in Myanmar. Having had run the country with an iron-fisted military rule for decades, the ruling State Peace and Moving towards National Reconciliation Development Council (SPDC) has begun moving the country on a The third crucial development is the gradual move by Yangon graduated path of democratization since the late 2011. Opportunities towards national reconciliation, with its stated goal of achieving a are ripe for eventual socioeconomic benefits to be reaped by a newly- permanent peace pact with major ethnic rebel groups in three to four years time. For decades, the military regime has been engaged in hard *Corresponding author: Koh S.L. Collin, S. Rajaratnam School of fighting with the array of ethnic insurgent groups in the northern and International Studies, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, E-mail: north-eastern part of the country. This overarching focus on internal [email protected] security for the purpose of maintaining regime survival in the face of Received: June 18, 2012 Accepted: June 21, 2012 Published: June 24, 2012 resistance from the ethnic rebel armies and potential dissent within

All articles published in Journal of Defense Studies & Resource Management are the property of SciTechnol, and is protected International Publisher of Science, by copyright laws. “Copyright © 2012, SciTechnol, All Rights Reserved. Technology and Medicine Citation: Collin KSL (2012) Political ‘New Dawn’ in Myanmar: Implications and Future Prospects for the Myanmar Navy. J Def Stud Resour Manage 1:1.

doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.4172/2324-9315.1000e104 the broader Myanmar population has for decades entrenched the Implications for the Myanmar Navy country’s security outlook in an inward orientation. This could have been justifiable back then because the primary national security threat The above discussed developments could only logically mean that perceived by the military regime is internal in nature. External threats Myanmar’s national security conception will become increasingly come largely in the form of foreign subversion, especially by Western outward-looking and essentially predicated on its growing maritime powers in collusion with dissenting segments in the populace, but not interests and hence room for growth of Myanmar’s naval power as a major foreign armed aggression. In any case, Myanmar has carefully a tool to insure these interests. It was not as if Myanmar is oblivious cultivated cordial and warm ties with China – its primary patron and to the need for a credible naval capability. All these while, the an indirect provider of its security against potential external foes – Myanmar Navy has been ranked the last in the army-dominated and with India. Its membership in the Association of Southeast Asian Tatmadaw (Myanmar Defence Services) and had been mainly Nations (ASEAN) provides another layer of security under which relegated to supporting the Army and Air Force in the country’s fight the regime could feel free to pursue its internal interest of pacifying with the ethnic insurgents, other than policing the coastline against the restive north and north-eastern parts of the country. In the wake encroachment by foreign fishermen. It was only after the November of political reforms, Yangon has begun to negotiate for peace with 2008 standoff with the Bangladesh Navy - during which the Myanmar the ethnic rebels, with greatest inroads made to date with major Navy was said to have made a poor showing - which the regime ethnic rebel group the Karen National Union (KNU). There is huge started to recognize the deficiencies in its naval capabilities. This was potential for eventual national reconciliation, assuming both Yangon complemented also by complaints and resignations by a number of and the ethnic rebel groups continue to show interest in this process. Myanmar Navy officers who lamented the navy’s sorry state of affairs. The end-result will be a change in security outlook from inward to an The reported inability of the Myanmar Navy to assert its stance in the outward orientation. Bay of Bengal against the assembled aid-carrying Western warships in the aftermath of Cyclone Nargis further amplified the fact that the Changing Security Outlook for Myanmar fleet has been grossly neglected and incapable of performing its basic role of safeguarding national maritime interests within the immediate The fourth crucial development is linked to the second and third 200-nautical mile exclusive economic zone even if the Myanmar developments and it concerns the impetus for a change in Myanmar’s Navy is not expected to be a bluewater force in any measure. Since security outlook. Potential for growth in Myanmar’s economy will 2008, some attempts had been made to enhance the Myanmar Navy. essentially increase its reliance on the seas. In fact, Yangon has long However, political isolation and continued troubles in the restive been interested in developing its maritime sector even before the rebel-occupied zones ensured that Yangon found its hands tied in its recent political reform. Achievements attained to date in the political attempt to bolster its naval capabilities. The recent political reform reform process will catalyze the growth of its maritime sector, be thus brings forth new opportunities yet at the same time also new it international shipping with the Dawei port and SEZ project or imperatives for the expansion of Myanmar’s naval capabilities. the expansion of its offshore marine O&G sector. This increased emphasis on the maritime sector necessitates an outward, not inward, Tracing the Evolution of the Myanmar Navy security conception. Credible naval power will have to be available to The old Myanmar Navy after the Second World Warwas protect these maritime interests. In the case of Myanmar, the need essentially a hodgepodge of former American, European and for maritime resource protection is therefore essential given its long Yugoslavian coastal and inshore patrol forces in the main. The navy coastline and vast maritime zone under its jurisdiction. The resolution then was adequate in supporting ground operations against the of maritime boundary dispute with Bangladesh in the Bay of Bengal ethnic rebel armies through the provision of gunfire support and in April 2012 by the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea troop transports in the numerous inland waterways of Myanmar. (ITLOS) not only provided the basis for Myanmar’s offshore marine The fleet was barely capable, however, of effectively policing the long resource development but also stressed upon the need for the country coastline of the country, much less to project credible naval force to safeguard its maritime interests. The ITLOS ruling is in favor of beyond the country’s territorial waters. In the 1990s, possibly linked Dhaka and this development would not have been well received by to an agreement to allow the Chinese to establish listening posts in many within Myanmar’s political-military leadership circle. In any strategic naval stations in Myanmar, the Myanmar Navy received a case, the long neglect of the maritime boundaries due to decades number of new Chinese-built patrol craft, most notably the Houxin of overwhelming focus on internal security deep in Myanmar’s class fast patrol craft, whose Chinese-made, 22 nautical mile-range terrestrial hinterland has somewhat contributed to Yangon’s C-801 anti-ship missile for the first time gave the fleet a greatly ‘defeat’ in the ITLOS ruling. In addition, the acute need to focus on enhanced long-range striking power since prior to the arrival of such safeguarding Myanmar’s maritime interests was further sharpened in a craft, the fleet was made up of only gun-armed craft that could prove the wake of the May 2008 Cyclone Nargis when American, British invaluable in providing gunfire support for the Myanmar Army but and French warships stood poised near the shores of Myanmar to certainly close to obsolete in modern naval warfare. The arrival of the deliver humanitarian aid to the affected population-a move which Hainan class large patrol craft gave the Myanmar Navy a revitalized was perceived as a threat to Myanmar’s national security. The French coastal anti-submarine warfare (ASW) capability since it is armed and the Dutch governments were even prepared during that time with Soviet-origin RBU-1200 5-barrelled ASW mortars and Chinese- to push for United Nations Security Council resolution to compel made BMB-2 depth charge projectors-all optimized only for shallow- Yangon ‘by all means necessary’ to accept international aid in the water ASW operations. Nonetheless, compared to the rest of the fleet, name of humanitarian rationale. This move could only be interpreted the Hainan and Houxin classes marked a significant addition to the by Yangon as a potential threat of seaward invasion by external naval Myanmar Navy. powers and puts greater emphasis on a maritime-focused, outward- Chinese assistance continued apace for the Myanmar Navy, not oriented security conception. just confined to the supply of warships and crew training, but also in

Volume 1 • Issue 1 • 1000e104 • Page 2 of 4 • Citation: Collin KSL (2012) Political ‘New Dawn’ in Myanmar: Implications and Future Prospects for the Myanmar Navy. J Def Stud Resour Manage 1:1.

doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.4172/2324-9315.1000e104 building up the indigenous naval shipbuilding capacity of the country. still under construction. A total of 3 ships of the class was said to be With the Western-imposed sanctions in place, Myanmar has limited planned for service. The frigate was shrouded in secrecy compared options but to either procure Chinese equipment or build its own. In to the preceding Anawrahta class and not much information is a move towards self-reliance, in the 1990s the Myanmar state-owned available. However, what was known was that the Aung Zeya class shipbuilders began to churn out a number of new local makes for possesses an enhanced striking power compared to the Anawrahta the fleet. The first was a simple coastal fast patrol craft known as the class in the form of Chinese-supplied C-602 anti-ship missile with a Myanmar class, which was apparently successful since this class was 151 nautical mile range-more than double of that of the C-802. The placed into series production – a general patrol, gun-armed variant as OTO Breda 76 mm gun appears to have become the new standard well as a strike variant equipped with Chinese-supplied C-802 missiles medium-calibre gun in Myanmar Navy service. However, the frigate that have a 65 nautical mile range, giving the fleet an enhanced is armed with Russian-supplied AK-630 6-barrelled Gatling-type 30 surface striking power. The gradual induction of the Myanmar class mm CIWS. According to Jane’s Fighting Ships, the ship is equipped into service allowed the fleet to retire the ageing force of post-war with a helicopter deck but no hangar facilities like the Anawrahta. For Western craft. Near the end of the 1990s, the Sinmalaik Shipyard ASW, again the standard RBU-1200 mortars are observed fitted on located in Rangoon managed to build a 77m-long and 1105-ton board the frigate but no torpedoes seen. On the whole, the Aung Zeya displacement warship-a corvette that gave the Myanmar Navy for the probably provides the fleet an enhanced sustained offshore patrol first time a helicopter deck-equipped vessel and an overall ship design capacity with much improved surface striking power. However, air that looked poised to take the fleet beyond the territorial waters into defence at sea remains confined to short-range non-missile systems the country’s EEZ. Initially designated the Sinmalaik class, by virtue while ASW capabilities remain restricted to only shallow-water of its shipbuilder, the corvette was actually a larger hull equipped operations and incapable of dealing with modern submarines armed with a helicopter deck but no hangar facilities but the remaining with long-range torpedo and anti-ship missile armaments. The haste to combat systems did not represent a significant leap beyond what the acquire offshore naval capabilities is witnessed in the recent induction Myanmar Navy already possessed in its inventory. Later designated of a pair of former Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy Jianghu the Anawrahta class, the ship was armed with a 76 mm dual-purpose I class frigates that had seen service since the early 1970s. The ageing gun of Italian OTO Breda design-a huge step beyond the inventory vessels probably represent a stopgap prior to the possible induction of mainly manually-operated and lower-calibre gun armaments-and of two more Aung Zeya class frigates because these two old frigates OTO Breda 40 mm close-in weapon system (CIWS). For surface are armed with weapons, for instance the obsolete C-201 (itself a strike, the C-802 anti-ship missile found on board the Myanmar Chinese copy of the old Soviet SS-N-2 Styx) and hand-operated guns, class is standard fit while for ASW, it is equipped with the standard that represented a step backward of what the Myanmar Navy’s most RBU-1200 found on board the Hainan class. The arrival of the class at modern fleet units are equipped with. Named the Mahar Bandoola least allowed the fleet to finally retire the pair of ex-American, Second class, the frigates made their first maiden appearance as the newest World War vintage light frigates. The Myanmar Navy has no organic additions to the Myanmar Navy when they docked in Vietnam’s Tien naval aviation, hence the Anawrahta class is likely able to embark Sa Port in March 2012 for a visit on their way from China back to a small air force helicopter for short periods of time but certainly Myanmar. incapable of locking it down under inclement weather conditions far out from shore. Therefore for the most part, the corvette might have Serious Deficiencies in Naval Capacity been able to conduct offshore patrols in the EEZ but not for sustained The Myanmar Navy has certainly made notable strides since periods of time. This deficiency was possibly exposed during the naval the 1990s by progressively enhancing its capabilities, moving from standoff with Bangladesh in November 2008, during the aftermath ‘brown-water’ to ‘green-water’ naval platforms with the immediate of which there was reported internal criticisms that the Myanmar objective of safeguarding the country’s maritime interests within Navy was unable to hold its own in asserting national claims to the 200-nautical mile EEZ in the Indian Ocean. All these while, the the overlapping zone due to the availability of merely small craft as Myanmar Navy has been heavily focused on enhancing its surface compared to the larger warships of the Bangladesh Navy. Prior to strike capabilities, which it has done admirably well so far. Clearly that, the inability of the Myanmar Navy to mobilize sufficient forces however, serious deficiencies remain. The Myanmar Navy remains to ‘show flag’ in the waters close to the high seas, where the Western weak in anti-air warfare (AAW) and ASW. Until the Myanmar Navy warships were awaiting permission to deliver cyclone aid in May acquires a basic point defence AAW missile system, AAW for the 2008 highlighted the acute need for platforms capable of sustained fleet will continue to be restricted to very short-range gun armaments presence at sea. that may only be marginal against modern sea-skimming anti-ship After 2008, it appears that the Myanmar Navy has gained greater missile threats. Furthermore, the Myanmar Navy will continue to be traction in demanding more attention from the land-oriented reliant upon the Myanmar Air Force for land-based air support. It is military junta in order to bolster the fleet’s capacity to handle offshore not clear whether the Myanmar Air Force has over-water maritime operations for longer periods of time, partly but significantly also to support capabilities even though theoretically, its existing inventory exorcise the ghosts of humiliation suffered in May and November of Chinese-built A-5C Fantan and the newer Russian-built MiG- 2008 in the face of what was deemed to be more superior foreign 29SE Fulcrum-C fighters can at least muster some basic surface naval forces that witnessed the Myanmar Navy being outclassed. Not attack capabilities. Shallow-water ASW remains the primary focus only naval training was intensified, the Myanmar Navy began to look of the Myanmar Navy but in the deeper waters of the EEZ, where into capabilities to better allow it to sustain naval presence farther hostile submarines enjoy greater room for manoeuvre and deeper out in the EEZ. The end result was apparently the new Aung Zeya spots to hide, the existing capabilities are deemed obsolete until the class frigate, which appears a larger ship derived from the Anawrahta fleet acquires a respectable ASW capability in the form of lightweight class, built locally with Chinese assistance. It was said to have been ASW torpedoes and possibly, a shipborne ASW helicopter capability. laid down in 2006 and commissioned in 2010, with a second ship Since the immediate concerns of the Myanmar Navy are likely local,

Volume 1 • Issue 1 • 1000e104 • Page 3 of 4 • Citation: Collin KSL (2012) Political ‘New Dawn’ in Myanmar: Implications and Future Prospects for the Myanmar Navy. J Def Stud Resour Manage 1:1.

doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.4172/2324-9315.1000e104 there may not be a need for at-sea replenishment capabilities. For a surface is an area that the Myanmar Navy appears to have made some country which has an extensive coastline and maritime zone to police, quiet steps. It was reported in Thai press that the Myanmar Navy has Myanmar possesses weak maritime surveillance capabilities even already begun to send personnel to China for submarine training and though India transferred a pair of retired BN-2 Islander maritime is currently in the process of acquiring at least three ex-PLA Navy patrol aircraft from its naval aviation service to Myanmar in 2006, submarines. If these developments were verified to have indeed taken followed by a second pair in 2007 notwithstanding British protests. place, it will imply significant enhancements of the overall capacity These complemented the existing three Fokker F-27 Friendship of the Myanmar Navy to sustain its power projection into the EEZ utility transports acquired in the early 1990s and were employed waters. by the Myanmar Air Force in the secondary role of visual coastal surveillance. Finally, the Myanmar Navy has no mine warfare Conclusion capability even though it may acquire a basic mine countermeasure Notwithstanding the recent ongoing sectarian violence between capacity in the near term considering the rising importance of its the Rakhine Buddhists and Rohingya Muslims, the political reform reliance on sea trade routes to facilitate its industrialization process. is well underway and has already been termed as an ‘irreversible’ Possible New Naval Developments in the Offing? process by top Myanmar political leadership. Assuming this process continues unabated, the political and economic gains for the new In general at present, the Myanmar Navy has a strong surface Myanmar Government can be significant. The revival of diplomatic strike capability, marginal in ASW and weak in AAW. The paucity of ties with erstwhile foes in the West, buttressed by its membership information emanating from Myanmar means that the picture of its in ASEAN, will lead to renewed foreign investments and aid from naval development process is incomplete at best, peppered with discrete international financial institutions flowing into the country to information from unofficial sources such as Myanmar dissidents resuscitate its ailing economy. In this respect, the ASEAN (primarily based in Thailand, through The Irrawaddy online publication for Singapore), China, India and Japan may spearhead industrialization instance, and also an interesting blog maintained on the Tatmadaw, of Myanmar. The consequent effect of this development will be an called mmmilitary.blogspot.com which posted rather authentic outward focus of Yangon’s national security interests, facilitated pictures of the Tatmadaw in action and the equipment it possesses. by ongoing national reconciliation with ethnic rebel groups. This The same blog in May 2012 published some pictures of what seemed outward security orientation will necessarily be maritime-focused to be new warships being in the process of induction into Myanmar in nature-an area which has been much neglected by the Myanmar Navy. The two new warships-one a frigate or corvette-sized vessel and Government at least until 2008. To safeguard its national maritime the other a fast attack or patrol craft-exact specifications unknown interests, such as the offshore marine O&G sector that remains the and unpublicized, appear to incorporate stealth design features. If crown jewel of Myanmar’s economy in the foreseeable future and a they indeed are new warships being incorporated into Myanmar source of revenue to propel its industrialization process in conjunction Navy service, again likely with Chinese (or even Indian and Russian) with foreign direct investments, the Myanmar Navy looks poised to technical assistance, these might represent another significant leap in emerge from the shadows to become a significant force that is worth capabilities for the fleet. The third dimension of naval warfare the sub- a close watch in the coming future.

Author Affiliation Top 1Nanyang Technological University, Singapore

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