Lima 2017 to be the biggest so far

Colours in the wind: Flag bearers at the final rehearsal for the opening ceremony of Lima 2017 at the Mahsuri International Exhibition Centre in Langkawi, amidst aircraft from Malaysia, South Korea and Thailand. Landing behind them is a Sukhoi Su-30SM jet used by the Russian Knights aerobatic team. — LIM BENG TATT/The Star

LANGKAWI: The 14th Langkawi International Maritime and Aero­space (Lima) 2017 with 555 exhibitors from 36 countries is the biggest so far.

Lima 2015 saw 512 exhibitors from 36 countries and Lima 2013 was participated by 433 exhibitors from 31 countries.

Lima 2017 expects to draw over 40,000 trade visitors and 140,000 public visitors to the five-day event that opens today.

A total of 101 aircraft, 61 ships and boats will be on aerial and sta­tic displays.

The exhibition covers 119,209sq m, compared with 104,209sq m in the last show in 2015.

Air power: Singapore Air Force’s Boeing AH-64 Apache attack helicopter arriving in Langkawi?.

At the Mahsuri International Exhibition Centre (MIEC) and Resorts World Langkawi, workers were seen putting finishing touches to exhibits.

Among the highlights include aerobatic performances from the world renowned Black Eagles of the Republic of Korea Air Force, Jupiter Aerobatic Team of the Indonesian Air Force and Russian Air Force’s very own Russian Knights.

Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) and autonomous underwater ve­­hicles (AUV) will make their ap­­pearance for the first time at Lima 2017.

They include General Atomics MQ-1 Predator by the United States Air Force, the US Navy’s Northrop Grumman MQ-8 Fire Scout, Thales Fulmar UAV by Thales Group and AUV62-AT by SAAB.

Other events during this year’s Lima include Asean Aviation Summit 2017, Air Chiefs Conference 2017, Chief of Navy Roundtable Talks, Asia-Pacific Heads of Mari­time Safety Agencies (APHoMSA) Conference, Czech Defence Tech­nology Presentation and va­­rious talks.

More information is available at www.limaexhibition.com or www.facebook.com/lima.langkawi.