Myanmar’s military is increasingly deploying paramotors and gyrocopters to carry out attacks on civilians and opposition forces, according to a report released Monday, highlighting a disturbing escalation in the country’s ongoing civil war.
The human rights organisation Fortify Rights said the use of paramotors, essentially paragliders fitted with backpack motors, was first reported in 2024. The first known gyrocopter attack, an ultralight aircraft with helicopter-style rotating blades, occurred in March last year. Both aircraft are being used to drop mortar shells by hand, with paramotor pilots sometimes cutting their engines to glide silently in on targets.
“The Myanmar military has found new ways to kill civilians from the sky using paramotors and gyrocopters equipped with manually-dropped, unguided explosives,” said Chit Seng of Fortify Rights.
Deadly attacks on civilians
The report cites multiple attacks, including one in October 2025 when a paramotor dropped two shells on anti-election protesters at a candlelight vigil in the Sagaing region, killing at least 24 people. In another incident in Sagaing, a gyrocopter targeted a hospital, killing the chief physician and two other staff members. Fortify Rights said its findings were corroborated by eyewitness interviews.
The Myanmar military, or Tatmadaw, did not respond to requests for comment, but has previously insisted it does not target civilians. The military seized power from the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi in February 2021, triggering widespread opposition and a civil war that has since killed more than 7,700 civilians, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners.
Expanding aerial capabilities
Fortify Rights said these attacks have taken place across Myanmar’s central lowlands, including the Sagaing, Magway, Mandalay, Ayeyarwady, and Bago regions, where flat terrain makes low-altitude flights practical. The paramotors and gyrocopters are primarily deployed in opposition-held areas where militia defences are limited.
“Paramotors are deployed in areas where armed actors are less sophisticated or lack firepower,” said Morgan Michaels, an analyst at the International Institute of Strategic Studies. “They also help reduce strain on the air force, allowing the Tatmadaw to redirect advanced assets to border regions where armed militias operate.”
The ultralight aircraft are cheap, easy to operate, and can stay in the air for roughly three hours while carrying 30 to 40 mortar shells, which are dropped manually or via crude release mechanisms.
Escalation linked to elections
Fortify Rights documented 304 paramotor and gyrocopter attacks on civilians between December 2024 and January 11, 2026, with total incidents including attacks on military targets reaching about 350. Attacks reportedly surged in July 2025, ahead of the military government’s announcement of elections, and intensified in December with the first round of voting.
With Suu Kyi’s party banned and opposition largely stifled, critics have called the elections a sham, designed to bolster the military junta’s legitimacy. Fortify Rights said the attacks demonstrate the junta’s efforts to intimidate civilians and consolidate control.
International concerns and sanctions
While some countries, notably China and Russia, continue to supply Myanmar with military equipment, sanctions from other nations prohibit such trade. Amnesty International reported on Monday that aviation fuel continues to enter the country via “ghost ships” that turn off location tracking to evade detection.
Fortify Rights urged governments to reassess sanctions to prevent paramotor and gyrocopter components from reaching the Tatmadaw.
“U.N. member states must strictly enforce existing sanctions against the Myanmar military junta and issue new sanctions that effectively prohibit the sale or transfer of arms, jet fuel, and dual-use equipment or technologies,” the group said.
