Insurgents in Myanmar captured Ukrainian-made MT-LBMSh tracked infantry fighting vehicles.
Videos of the incident were published on social media.
Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) rebels reportedly seized combat vehicles in the Chinshwehaw Military District.
The published videos captured two IFVs, one of which is visually destroyed and cannot be restored.
In 2017, Militarnyi reported that the Kharkiv Tractor Plant was manufacturing vehicles on the MT-LB chassis for Myanmar.
Indeed, Myanmar received the first Ukrainian MT-LBMSh much earlier. It is confirmed that the country received 10 combat vehicles in 2007 and 16 in 2009.
There are unconfirmed reports that Ukraine has sold a slightly larger number of MT-LBMS to Myanmar, but there is no official information on this.
MT-LBMSh is a Ukrainian infantry fighting vehicle based on the MT-LB tracked tractor, which was equipped with the KBA-105 Shkval remote weapon station with a ZTM-1 30mm automatic gun, a PKT 7.62mm machine gun, an AG-17 30mm grenade launcher, and a Barrier ATGM.
The combat vehicle also has enhanced armor protection due to mounted add-on armored screens. It is worth noting that the enhanced protection was used only in the export version for Myanmar.
In addition, the combat vehicle received a new YMZ-238B engine with a capacity of 330 horsepower, which provides a maximum road speed of up to 60 kilometers per hour.
The IFV crew consists of three people: commander, gunner, and driver, and the squad compartment can accommodate up to 7 soldiers.
It is worth noting that the commander does not have an effective observation instrument and is forced to observe the battlefield and the movement of the combat vehicle through periscopes.
The MT-LBMSh combat weight increased from 9.7 tons (MT-LB) to 12.5 tons as a result of the modernization.