Myanmar state production of small arms, light weapons, and ammunition24 //// Upon independence in 1948, the Burmese military (or Tatmadaw) was armed with mostly surplus Second World War equipment inherited from Britain and Japan. In seeking to develop domestic arms production, the DDI (abbreviated Ka-Pa-Sa in Burmese) was established as the state’s armament organization. Burmese manufacturing began with the licensed production of the Italian TZ45 sub-machine gun, which entered service with the Tatmadaw as the BA52, and eventually included the licence-produced HKG3 and Rheinmetall MG3 by the 1960s. Indigenized variants of these weapons remain in service today with distinct Burmese designations. Following the government’s violent crackdown on civilian protests in August 1988, the European Union (EU) and the United States severed defence industry ties with the junta and imposed sanctions, including arms embargoes (CoEU, 1996). With the withdrawal of partnerships with the United States and EU countries, Israeli and Singaporean expertise and input significantly influenced the development of the DDI’s capabilities. By the early 1990s the DDI was producing the BA93 SMG (currently the MA13), a variant of the Uzi. More significantly, Israeli engineers assisted the DDI in the development of a new family of self-loading rifles to replace the MA11 and MA12—rifles that used the patterns for HK33 rifles seized from rebel groups. In 2002 production of the Galil ARM-inspired MA1, MA2, MA3, and MA4 self-loading rifles and light machine guns began, which continues to this day. These rifles are currently the Tatmadaw’s standard infantry weapons. Currently the DDI produces more small arms and in more variants than ever before. The past decade alone has seen the indigenous production of a Glock-patterned handgun, a Steyr TMP-patterned sub-machine gun (MA13 MK II),25 upgraded versions of the standard MA1-4 series, precision rifles in both 7.62 × 51 mm and 12.7 × 99 mm, a bullpup contestant to the current service rifle (MA1 MK III), a stand-alone grenade launcher, and a range of ammunition for these systems. Actual defence production takes place at more than two dozen locations throughout government-controlled portions of Myanmar. The primary end user of all DDI materiel is the Tatmadaw, although the Myanmar Police Force is also occasionally supplied with such materiel—typically surplus. A third (and very rare) group of end users have been civilian defence units, which comprise local villagers in conflict areas. No known significant exports of DDI-produced small arms have taken place to a foreign country. Diversion occurs via battlefield captures while the Tatmadaw is fighting the various ethnic groups in the border regions, although these anti-government groups do not favour the use of DDI weapons due to reliability issues and limited access to spare parts. Less commonly observed, but still practised, is corrupt Tatmadaw soldiers’ illicit sale of arms and ammunition in the conflict areas. In conclusion, the DDI has an extremely robust small arms production capacity that can meet the Tatmadaw’s operational needs. It is also able to experiment with and modify existing production designs as issues arise or as the armed forces identify new requirements. Despite the changes in government leadership and political stances in the last decade, the DDI has continued to increase production variants and innovate with different platforms. This trend is likely to remain the norm for the foreseeable future. ( That 's what we have done with limited resources )
