Regime escalates gyrocopter attacks in Myanmar heartland

By Admin 25 Oct 2025

DMG Newsroom

25 October 2025, Mrauk-U
 
Myanmar’s military regime, which is ramping up its aerial attacks across the country, is conducting daily airstrikes using a variety of attack vehicles on both military targets and civilian areas.
 
Observers say the regime is using jet fighters, attack helicopters, drones, paramotors, and even gyrocopters to carry out attacks.
 
The military regime has been using gyrocopters since July 2025, and they are now widely used in the mountainous and treeless Bamar heartland of central Myanmar, such as Sagaing, Magway, Bago and Mandalay Regions, according to aviation observers.
 
“The military regime has been seen using gyrocopters to attack anti-regime forces in the Bamar heartland of central Myanmar, such as Sagaing, Magway and Mandalay regions,” an official from the Airforce Monitoring Group told DMG. “The gyrocopters are based at the junta’s Meiktila Airbase and Northwestern Command in Monywa. In recent days, gyrocopters have also been seen flying from Taungoo Airbase in Bago Region to attack resistance forces.”
 
The gyrocopter can carry significantly more weight than paramotors, and can carry up to 120 pounds of bombs as well as combat weapons.
 
Each gyrocopter can carry a pilot and one other person, and has a normal flight speed of 95 miles per hour and a top speed of 120 miles per hour.
 
A gyrocopter has a maximum altitude of 12,000 feet and a runway length of 98 feet. It can stay in the air for 3 to 4 hours and has a maximum range of 235 miles.
 
The military regime is believed to have begun using various unconventional military weapons and hardware,  such as paramotors and gyrocopters, to save costs and take advantage of the lack of air defence equipment among the anti-regime forces.
 
“The cost of a single mission of jet fighters flying and bombing is incomparable to the cost of flying and bombing with gyrocopters and paramotors. That is why the military regime has increasingly used paramotors and gyrocopters to attack the resistance forces in the Myanmar heartland. The junta’s Meiktila Airbase and Northwestern Command in Monywa have each been carrying out attacks on the revolutionary forces with three gyrocopters each,” the Airforce Monitoring Group official added.
 
On October 12, the military regime used a gyrocopter to bomb the northeastern part of Pauk Township, Magway Region, injuring a local resident.
 
The regime reportedly killed one civilian and injured three others when it used a gyrocopter to bomb a location in the northeastern part of Pauk Township on October 5.
 
The junta is targeting civilian residential areas, schools, and religious buildings across the country, with civilian casualties and damage to buildings continuing to rise daily.
 
“The military also assumes that those in areas controlled by the revolutionary forces are revolutionary supporters,” said an official from the Myanmar Defense & Security Institute (MDSI). “Another thing is that the military regime no longer distinguishes between civilians and military targets, and in the areas it lost to the anti-regime forces, it has disrupted and destroyed not only military operations but also education, health, administration, and socio-economic development.”
 
To prevent the military regime from successfully targeting civilians, local residents are recommending that they systematically dig bomb shelters inside their homes, install airstrike warning systems in every village, and conduct regular airstrike safety drills.