THE I DIPLOMAT
By Blake Herzinger
October 27, 2020
he submarine acquisition fulfills a long-held ambition of the Myanmar Navy, but could prove costly in the long run.
The long-awaited transfer of a Russian-made Kilo-class submarine from India to Myanmar took place last week
during Myanmar’s Bandoola fleet exercise. The submarine, UMS Min Ye
Thein Kha Thu, a decades-old diesel boat, is only a single vessel but it
has significance in Myanmar’s immediate neighborhood and is also
indicative of the increasing strategic competition in the Indo-Pacific.