Myanmar ahead of Bangladesh in Global Fire Power Index

FT ONLINE

With decades of unresolved tension pertaining to the territorial disputes and Myanmar’s Rohingya influx into Bangladesh, the two neighbours have maintained an uneasy relationship sometimes deteriorating to exchange of fire and deployment of regular armed forces along the border.

Following the recent troops deployment from the Myanmar side on the bordering frontier, the border security forces of both the countries set on a flag meeting where Bangladesh called on Myanmar to remove the army from Bangladesh border.

On the 1st day of March 2018, Myanmar deployed a huge contingent of security forces with heavy weapons along the Tambru border with Bangladesh, creating panic among the Rohingyas on the adjacent no-man's land.

A full picture of the military power of the two countries was not found until recently. A recent report titled Global Fire Power Index 2017, however, provides a comparative picture of ​​the military powers of Bangladesh and Myanmar.

According to the Global Fire Power Index 2017, Myanmar is ranked the world's 31st powerful military while Bangladesh's position is 57th.

Bangladesh is far ahead of Myanmar on the basis of population but is far behind in military terms. Bangladesh has 15,61,86,882 people while Myanmar’s total population is 5,68,90,418, according to the report.

In the comparison, the list did not only include matters like military manpower, arms and vehicles, but also population, geographical location, industry, and performance.

NUMBER OF SOLDIERS:

According to the index, the number of military personnel in Bangladesh is 2,25,000 while there are 5,16,000 in Myanmar's army. There are 65,000 personnel in Bangladesh's reserve force and Myanmar has 1,10,000 people.

DEFENSE BUDGET:

The defense budget of Bangladesh is US$ 1.59 billion while the Myanmar’s is US$ 2.4 billion.

AIR POWER:

Bangladesh has 166 aircrafts including 45 warriors and 45 attack aircrafts on the other hand Myanmar has 56 fighter aircrafts and 77 attack aircrafts. Myanmar has 86 helicopters while Bangladesh has 61 helicopters.

ARMY STRENGTH:

According to the report, there are a total of 534 tanks in Bangladesh's military. On the other hand, Myanmar has 592. Bangladesh has 982 armored fighting vehicles while Myanmar has 1358.

ARTILLERY:

Bangladesh has 18 self-propelled artilleries and 32 rocket projectors. Myanmar has 108 self-propelled artilleries and 108 rocket projectors.

Myanmar has 884 towed artilleries, the report said.

NAVAL STRENGTH:

Bangladesh has 89 naval assets including 6 frigates and 5 mine warfare vessels where Myanmar has 155 naval assets.

However, none of the two countries have any aircraft carriers and destroyers.

Although it was mentioned in this report that Bangladesh did not have any submarine, the country actually bought two submarines recently.

Bangladesh is ahead in the number of frigates. Myanmar has five while Bangladesh has 6.

Besides, Bangladesh is ahead of Myanmar in terms of mine warfare craft and commercial vessels.

According to the report, the world's most powerful military side is US followed by Russia, China and India. The top 10 countries include France, United Kingdom, Japan, Turkey, Germany and Egypt.