Inside Karen State's Jungle Workshops: Photographer Documents Resistance Drone Unit's Improvised Arsenal
In early 2025, documentary photographer Giacomo De Stefano embedded with the Golden Eagle Drone Team — a People's Defence Force unit operating in Myanmar's Karen State — to document the resistance movement's improvised weapons workshops hidden beneath dense jungle canopy, and the individuals who keep them running.
Highlights
- In early 2025, documentary photographer Giacomo De Stefano embedded with the Golden Eagle Drone Team in Myanmar's Karen State, gaining rare front-line access through KNLA contacts.
- Resistance workshops hidden beneath the jungle canopy convert commercial drones and salvaged materials — including fire extinguishers and scrap metal — into improvised weapons.
- Myanmar's military junta deploys fighter jets, attack helicopters, and heavy artillery, while PDF units rely on homemade systems and cross-border supply networks, highlighting a severe asymmetry of force.
- 68-year-old U Maung Ko has served as the Golden Eagle Drone Team's head of weapons production since 2022, drawing on experience dating back to the 1988 pro-democracy uprising when he was an engineering student.
- U Maung Ko now trains younger resistance fighters and oversees the production of drone-dropped explosive devices, passing on decades of improvised weapons expertise.
Photographer Ventures to Karen State Front Lines, Exposing Resistance Drone Weapons Workshops
In early 2025, documentary photographer and filmmaker Giacomo De Stefano spent several days embedded deep in the jungle of Myanmar's Karen State, filming and photographing the Golden Eagle Drone Team. The unit operates under the People's Defence Force (PDF), within the Cobra Column along Asian Highway 1. Through contacts in the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA), De Stefano gained access to front-line areas across the Moei River — documenting a side of Myanmar's resistance movement rarely seen by the outside world: the improvised manufacture of weapons, and the people who dedicate themselves to the work.
A Hidden Workshop Beneath the Canopy
"Far from the most intense fighting, concealed beneath the thick jungle canopy, rudimentary workshops operate under scarce resources and constant pressure," De Stefano described. "Here, resistance fighters use whatever materials they can find to produce explosives and drone-delivered munitions. Fire extinguishers, aerosol cans, and scrap metal are salvaged and repurposed; commercially available drones are modified into instruments of war. These workshops reveal a reality shaped by necessity, ingenuity, and resilience."
A Profoundly Asymmetric Conflict
The asymmetry of the conflict is stark. Myanmar's military junta deploys fighter jets, attack helicopters, and heavy artillery across contested areas, while resistance forces must often rely on ageing light weapons, homemade weapon systems, and supplies procured through complex cross-border networks. In this environment, improvisation has become an indispensable pillar of the resistance.
A 68-Year-Old Veteran's Commitment: From the 1988 Uprising to the 2025 Front Line
Among those working in these workshops is U Maung Ko, a 68-year-old resistance member whose involvement stretches back nearly four decades. During Myanmar's pro-democracy uprising in 1988, he was an engineering student — and already involved in weapons production. More than thirty years later, he has returned to the same work under vastly different circumstances, but with an unchanged conviction.
Since arriving in Karen State in 2022, U Maung Ko has served as the Golden Eagle Drone Team's head of weapons production. Unable to fight on the front line himself, he now focuses on training younger members, imparting technical knowledge, and overseeing the production of ammunition and drone-dropped explosive devices.
© Giacomo De Stefano. All images and reporting from Karen State produced by Giacomo De Stefano.
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