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BUILDING THE TATMADAW: Myanmar Armed Forces since 1948. By Maung Aung Myoe. Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, 2009. xiv, 254 pp. (Tables, graphs, figures, maps.) US$39.90, cloth. ISBN 978-98 1-230-848-1.
Published in 2009, Building the Tatmadaw: Myanmar Armed Forces since 1948 is the latest survey of the Burma military. In form and content, it reflects the writings of Andrew Selth, an Australian scholar who is the leading authority on the subject. Most of Maung Aung Myoe's book has todo with examining the various subunits of the armed forces - the land, air and sea subdivisions - how they are armed and trained, financed and incorporated into Myanmar 's armed forces. The tables in his book are clear and well presented but they are incomplete because the military withholds important information which the author most probably was unable to obtain elsewhere.
According to Maung Aung Myoe, the government spends large sums to obtain modern aircraft and air defense equipment, naval vessels and sea defense weapons and related equipment in order to upgrade its ability to defend the nation against potential attacks from foreign enemies who have more modern arms and means of delivery. Burma can design and manufacture small arms, mines and related weapons which do not...