 As the technological gap between European powers widened in the 18th century, the army was dependent on Europeans' willingness to sell more sophisticated weaponry.While the army had held its own against the armies of the kingdom's neighbours, its performance against more technologically advanced European armies deteriorated over time.While it defeated the Portuguese and French intrusions in the 17th and 18th centuries respectively, the army could not stop the advance of the British Empire in the 19th century, losing all three Anglo-Burmese wars.