“Crashing Down on Us”
75
Model
Manufacturer
Type
Description
Events
Nanchang Q-5
(A-5 Fantan)
Jiangxi Hongdu
Aviation Industry
Group, a subsidiary
of AVIC.265
Fighter
Nangchang Q-5, known in
export markets as the A-5
Fantan, is a ground attack
aircraft designed for a single
pilot.267 Between 1992 and
1998, China supplied 24 Q-5
(A-5) aircraft to Myanmar,
and about 20 are still
believed to be operational.
Before the alleged attack on
January 7, 2024, Myanmar
Witness verified four Q-5
aircraft at Tada-U airbase
around 9:43 a.m. local
time.268
In 2022, a Myanmar junta’s
Nangchang A-5 Fantan from
Tada-U Air Force Base crashed
into a lake in Sagaing Region
during a training mission on
February 15, 2022.269
JF-17, also known as FC-1
Xiaolong, is a lightweight
multi-role combat aircraft
capable of interception,
ground attack, and bombing
missions. Myanmar
publicly commissioned
six JF-17s during its Air
Force anniversaries in 2018
and 2019.272 In 2022, most
of the JF-17 have been
grounded due to technical
malfunctions.273
Between February 2021 and
December 2022, Chinese
suppliers provided various
spare parts for JF-17 Thunder
aircraft, highlighting China’s role
in sustaining the Myanmar Air
Force’s JF-17 operations.274
Ground Attack
Formerly
Nanchang Aircraft
Manufacturing
Corporation.266
JF-17 Thunder
(FC-1 Xiaolong)
Chengdu
Aircraft Industry
Corporation (a
subsidiary of AVIC)
and Pakistan
Aeronautical
Complex Kamra271
Multirole
Combat Aircraft
The use of Q-5 was also reported
during an airstrike on Ka Nan
village in Sagaing Township’s
Tamu Township on January 7,
2024.270
265 Business & Human Rights Resource Centre, “Jiangxi Hongdu Aviation Industry Group Co Ltd.”
266 Global Security, “Hongdu Aviation Industry Group LTD. (HAIG),” website, https://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/
china/cnamc.htm.
267 “What Was The Nangchang Q-5 & How Did It Make History In China?,” Simple Flying, March 4, 2024, https://simpleflying.
com/nanchang-q-5-chinese-fighter-jet-history/.
268 Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, Arms Transfer Database, accessed July 28, 2025, https://armstransfers.
sipri.org/ArmsTransfer/TransferData/transferDetail?entityId=737257; Sakshi Tiwari, “Myanmar ‘Dumps’ China-Pak
JF-17 Thunder Jets For Bombing Ops; Uses Outdated Q5 Fighters Instead: Reports,” The Eurasian Times, January 31,
2024, https://www.eurasiantimes.com/new-jf-17-thunder-inoperable-rusting-myanmar-uses/; Myanmar Witness,
Airstrike Denial, January 12, 2024, https://www.info-res.org/myanmar-witness/reports/airstrike-denial/.
269 “Pilot Killed as Myanmar Air Force Jet Fighter Crashes,” The Irrawaddy, February 17, 2022, https://www.irrawaddy.com/
news/burma/pilot-killed-as-myanmar-air-force-jet-fighter-crashes.html.
270 Myanmar Witness, Airstrike Denial.
271 Business & Human Rights Resource Centre, “Chengdu Aircraft Industry Group,” website, https://www.businesshumanrights.org/en/companies/chengdu-aircraft-industry-group/; Business & Human Rights Resource Centre,
“Pakistan
Aeronautical
Complex,”
website,
https://www.business-humanrights.org/en/companies/pakistanaeronautical-complex/. See also, Justice for Myanmar, #Airbusted, pp. 16-17.
272 Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, Office of the Commander-in-Chief of Defence Services, “Tatmadaw (Air)
Establishment Enters 71st Anniversary; Empower Air Strength for National Defence; Tatmadaw Aircraft
Commissioned,” December 15, 2018, https://www.seniorgeneralminaunghlaing.com.mm/en/10652/tatmadawair-establishment-enters-71st-anniversary-empower-air-strength-national-defence-tatmadaw-aircraftcommissioned/; Office of the Commander-in-Chief of Defence Services, “New Military Planes and Helicopters Put
Into Service at 72nd Anniversary Of Tatmadaw (Air),” December 15, 2019, https://cincds.gov.mm/node/5720.
273 “Technical Problems Ground Myanmar’s JF-17 Fighter Jets Bought From China,” The Irrawaddy, November 25, 2022,
https://www.irrawaddy.com/news/burma/technical-problems-ground-myanmars-jf-17-fighter-jets-bought-fromchina.html.
274 U.N. Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in Myanmar Tom Andrews, The Billion Dollar Death Trade, p. 17