The junta has increased its use of paramotors (motorised paragliders) to bomb targets from the air in Kyaukphyu Township in Arakan (Rakhine) State as fighting has intensified there.

Paramotor pilots have been frequently spotted carrying out training flights over Pyinphymaw and Ngalapwae wards in Kyaukphyu Town, the capital of Kyaukphyu Township, since the third week of March.

Since early April the junta has been deploying the paramotors in military bombing missions over Kyaukphyu Township, according to township residents.

A villager from Kalabar Village in Kyaukphyu Township said: “The training flights of these things over the downtown wards lasted about 10 days, and then the junta started using them for combat in early April. Now, they're using paramotors almost every day to drop bombs. The explosions from the bombs dropped by the paramotors are pretty loud.”

He also pointed out that the junta’s paramotors have not just been bombing suspected Arakan Army (AA) positions. They have also been dropping bombs on villages in Kyaukphyu Township causing damage to homes and killing livestock in villages including Pyinshay, Malakyun, and Thaingchaung.

The junta attacks with paramotors mainly at night and it  is believed to currently have at least two paramotors operating in Kyaukphyu, according to information from a source who spoke to DMG.

They said: “Paramotors usually fly between 9:00 pm and 4:00 am the next morning. Since it's night, you can hear the engine sounds, but you can't really see where they are. Based on the sound, I think there are at least two paramotors flying for each mission.”

The junta began using paramotors in the regions of Mandalay, Magway, and Sagaing as a more cost-effective alternative for aerial bombing missions in late 2024. The use of paramotors is thought to have offered the junta some tactical advantages, and they are now being deployed more widely on battlefields across the country.