On April 21, 2023, the Free Army of Anmativeda launched စစ်ဆင်ရေးတိုက်စစ် (Operation Striker) against Junta positions south of the city of Laukai in cooperation with the allied Kau People's Army. On the 23rd, the FAA and KPA captured the village of Momeik from Junta forces. They almost immediately found themselves under heavy indirect fire from artillery pieces to the north and Air Force jets from above. Shortly afterward, rebel forces spotted a [Mil Mi-2] operated by the လေတပ် (Laytaut, Air Force). The helicopter, serial number 3804, from the 38th Rotorcraft Regiment had been dispatched to the area to act as a liaison for the artillery pieces as they continued to pound Momeik.
Unfortunately for the helicopter and its crew, the town was captured bythe 132nd Infantry Battalion and its supporting elements. Among those supporting elements was the Free Army Air Defense Force's စပါးအုံး ကော်လံ (Python Column), အဆိပ် အဖွဲ့ (Venom Group), of the 16th Mixed Air Defense Battalion of the Free Army of Anmativeda
Python Column, equipped with a quad-mounted anti-aircraft gun mounted on a 6x6 truck and a pair of MANPADS launchers lay in wait in the treeline outside of Momeik watching the helicopter approach. Knowing their MANPADS were precious, fired on the helicopter with their AA gun, failing to score any hits due to the range. The helicopter retreated to a further distance from Momeik to protect from light weapon fire. To prevent the helicopter's escape, Python fired a missile at it. The missile struck the helicopter at the base of the tail, shearing it off, and starting a fire. The helicopter plummeted to earth, killing the three Laytaut personnel onboard. The FAA located the wreckage the next day. It was the fourth helicopter downed by the rebels since the start of 2023.
Some of the men and the vehicles of Python Column, Venom Group, 16th Mixed Air Defense Battalion that were present during the incident are shown here.
The AA gun was mounted to a 6x6 flatbed truck using an improvised pedestal mount. Additional ammo cans appear to have been tied down between the cab and the mount. The truck was covered in a variety of markings by its crew, visible in videos taken and posted by them of the incident. The mount had the word "သတိရပါ။" (Remember) written on it, a common abbreviation of the rebel slogan "Remember the Martyrs/အာဇာနည်များကို သတိရပါ။". It also had one of the many flags associated with the Free Government painted on it, a red and blue field with a central white circle in which a dove with an olive branch in its beak flies. The cab had the word "ပိုးသတ်ဆေး" (Pesticide) written on one side and the Mercanti words "Fly Swatter" painted on the other. The cab roof was painted red to aid in aerial identification, as the FAA makes prolific use of homemade drone weapons. The numbers 9-16 are also written on the cab, which allowed OSINT sources to identify the vehicle as belonging to the third company of the 16th Mixed Air Defense Battalion. The 16 is the battalion and 9 identifies it as the battalion's 9th vehicle, OSINT sources believe that each Group in a MAD Btn receives three such vehicles, meaning this one is from the third Group, Venom.
Python Column also had a pickup truck with them at the time of the event, which appears to have been carrying the MANPADS team and additional personnel. The truck's personnel also took videos and images of the incident that were later posted. The truck has similar markings to the truck. On its doors, the word "စပါးအုံး" (Python) has been written to identify it to friendly forces, and also to OSINT sources that were now able to narrow down which Column of Venom Group was involved. FAADF markings were also on the bed, directly behind the cabin, a rebel red star on the bed, and the hood was painted red as well.