Extra 300L is is a two-seat aerobatic monoplane (photo : Deroeck)Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) pilots will fly four German-made, single-engine, propellor aeroplanes as the national aerobatics team during the Langkawi International Maritime and Aerospace (Lima) 2011 exhibition next month.
Defence Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said the Extra 300L monoplanes would be in action as the Kris Sakti, a joint initiative between the private sector and the government, for the Dec 6-10 event at the Langkawi International Airport here.
The Extra 300L was designed in 1987 by Walter Extra, an award-winning German aerobatic pilot and built by Extra Flugzeugbau.
In previous Lima editions, the RMAF put up aerobatic teams like the Taming Sari, comprising Pilatus PC-7 turboprops and others, involving the MiG-29N Fulcrum air superiority and Sukhoi Su-30MKM Flanker jet fighters.
Zahid said the RMAF would also showcase its Boeing F/A-18D strike fighters and the Su-30MKM this year.
Others scheduled to perform aerial displays include the BAE Systems Eurofighter Typhoon, France's Dassault Aviation's Rafale and Sweden's Saab JAS-39 Gripen.
Zahid added other prominent aerospace segment displays included the C-17 Globemaster III, the Eurocopter Tiger, Sikorsky S-92 and AgustaWestland AW149 helicopters.
For the maritime segment, Zahid said the Royal Malaysian Navy's (RMN) KD Tun Razak Scorpene submarine would be present, along with the United States destroyer USS Curtis Wilbur, Korea's ROKS Gang Gamchan, Singapore's RSS Supreme, Australia's HMAS Glenelg and India's INS Kora.
"We will invite all members of Parliament inside our submarine to judge for themselves if the vessel's purchase is worth it," Zahid told newsmen after chairing a Cabinet Committee Meeting on Lima 2011 at the Langkawi Development Authority headquarters in Kuah on Thursday.
Zahid said the organisers expected 38,000 trade visitors and 45,000 civilians for the event, which was expected to bring in RM150 million in tourism revenue.
A total of 403 companies, including Boeing, Airbus, DCNS, Daewoo, Blohm and Voss, Embraer, Sikorsky, Gulfstream, AgustaWestland, Fincantieri, Saab, Eurofighter Typhoon, Sukhoi and Navantia -- from 35 countries have confirmed as exhibitors, a 25 per cent increase from the previous event, two years ago.
There will also be 404 delegations from 57 countries. Zahid added that there would be 26 aircraft exhibits this year as compared with 11 for 2009.
He added that there would be 12 ship exhibits as compared with 10 for the previous event.
(New Straits Times)
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