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Text: |
Chakrit Samithinan |
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Pictures: |
Chakrit Samithinan & Saichol Kraiamat |
(Picture courtesy Chakrit Samithinan)
Agusta-Westland AW-139 (Picture courtesy Chakrit Samithinan)
The 17th Langkawi International Maritime and Aerospace Exhibition 2025 organised under the theme “Innovate Today, Thrive Tomorrow” took place from 20th to 24th May with 860 exhibitors from 24 countries whereof about half of them were from Malaysia. This was a marked increase in participants over the 2023 edition. According to the organisers, 450’000 people visited the exhibition and associated events which might be a somewhat optimistic figure, considering that it rained every day.
This year, the flying program turned out to be rather small compared to 2023 and suffered in addition some last minute cancellations due to a variety of reasons. The appearance of the Surya Kiran Team from the Indian Air Force with their Hawks W132 who visited LIMA 18 years was sadly cancelled only two weeks before the show in view of the ongoing troubles between Pakistan and India.
This meant that the confirmed participants in the flying program would be limited to only two teams from abroad, i.e. the Russian Knights and the Indonesian Jupiter Team. Rumours that the Sukhoi Su-57 would appear also at LIMA turned out to be false. News circulating among the press gave a lack of permission by the Chinese authorities to overfly their territory as reason for a no-show. The remaining two international display teams were going to be supported with solo performances by the Sukhoi Su-30MKMs and the FA-18D Hornets of the Royal Malaysian Air Force as well as an Extra 300L and a Gamebird GB-1.
There was a total absence of fighter aircrafts from the world’s manufacturers as Malaysia is no longer in the market for new fighter aircrafts. While Sukhois and Hornets are receiving life extension upgrades, Malaysia intends to acquire a number of second-hand F-18 Hornets from the Republic of Kuwait but apparently, the permission from the USA for the deal to go ahead has not yet been forthcoming.
While the Indonesian Jupiters had a relatively short travel to Langkawi, it was somewhat different for the Russian Knights who got stuck in Hainan, China due to apparent “bureaucratic problem” which was in all probability a missing overflight permission. This, plus bad weather in Hainan, caused the team to arrive only after the official opening of the event presided over by Malaysia’s Prime Minister Dato’ Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
Opening (Picture courtesy Chakrit Samithinan)
Mc Donnell Douglas FA-18D Hornet (Picture courtesy Chakrit Samithinan)
Mc Donnell Douglas FA-18D Hornet (Picture courtesy Chakrit Samithinan)
Sukhoi Su-30MKM (Picture courtesy Chakrit Samithinan)
Sukhoi Su-30MKM (Picture courtesy Saichol Kraiamat)
Sukhoi Su-30MKM (Picture courtesy Saichol Kraiamat)
Lockheed C-130H Hercules (Picture courtesy Saichol Kraiamat)
Airbus A400M Atlas (Picture courtesy Saichol Kraiamat)
Agusta-Westland AW-139 (Picture courtesy Chakrit Samithinan)
Eurocopter EC 725 Caracal (Picture courtesy Chakrit Samithinan)
Eurocopter EC 725 Caracal (Picture courtesy Chakrit Samithinan)
Eurocopter EC 725 Caracal (Picture courtesy Chakrit Samithinan)
Eurocopter EC 725 Caracal (Picture courtesy Chakrit Samithinan)
Eurocopter EC120 Colibri(Picture courtesy Chakrit Samithinan)
Pilatus PC-9 (Picture courtesy Chakrit Samithinan)
The Flying Program
The opening flying program of this 5-day event is called “Opening Gambit” and is staged solely by the Malaysian Air Force. This activity lasting approx. 10 minutes presents most aircrafts of the air force in a flurry of passes from different directions which are happening without any pause so that the spectators hardly know in which directions they should look.
What the Malaysian Air Force is presenting every two years on opening day is a well-choreographed firework of low passes and aerial manoeuvres supported by flares and pyrotechnics which stands unique in the entire world. This is not only achieved due to the high number of aircrafts involved, 23 crafts to be exact, but also due to the unique choreography and the sheer speed with which these activities are happening.
As the flying program was very short due to the small number of participants, the writer wishes to elaborate somewhat more in detail about this so called “Opening Gambit” which stand unequalled anywhere.
Sukhoi Su-30MKM (Picture courtesy Chakrit Samithinan)
Sukhoi Su-30MKM (Picture courtesy Chakrit Samithinan)
Sukhoi Su-30MKM (Picture courtesy Chakrit Samithinan)
Sukhoi Su-30MKM (Picture courtesy Chakrit Samithinan)
Sukhoi Su-30MKM (Picture courtesy Chakrit Samithinan)
Mc Donnell Douglas FA-18D Hornet (Picture courtesy Chakrit Samithinan)
Mc Donnell Douglas FA-18D Hornet (Picture courtesy Chakrit Samithinan)
Mc Donnell Douglas FA-18D Hornet (Picture courtesy Chakrit Samithinan)
Mc Donnell Douglas FA-18D Hornet (Picture courtesy Chakrit Samithinan)
Mc Donnell Douglas FA-18D Hornet (Picture courtesy Chakrit Samithinan)
The activities begin precisely at 08.40 h with a ultra-fast and low flyby of a F-18D Hornet dispensing flares. Thereafter, two F-18s appear from North to South separating horizontally to East and West while dispensing flares. This is followed by two Su-30MKM parting vertically from North to South. Then, a formation of 6 PC-7 aircrafts is passing from West to East being followed by two A-400 transporters also passing from West to East in very close proximity of each other.
Two C-130 Hercules appear from West to East, splitting horizontally and immediately thereafter, two EC-725 Caracal Helicopters begin an aerobatic routine before attacking a ground target amid noise of machine gun salvos resulting in black smoke rising. This gives way to a formation flyby of 2 EC-725 Caracal, 3 EC-120 and 3 AW-139 passing from South to North and followed by one C-130 in the company of two A-400s crossing from South to North.
The end comes with a flypast of 3 F-18D and 2 Su-30MKM making their way North while a big explosion of pyrotechnics is marking the end of the gambit. All in all, 24 aircrafts participated in this extremely interesting segment of the show which was a slightly lower number than in 2023.
The plan for the opening day flying performances called for a pause after the opening gambit to allow civilian traffic to resume take-offs and landings until 12.05 h when the airspace was again to close in order to allow the flying of the other aircrafts in the flying display. However, heavy rain started at 11.00 h and would continue until 14.00 h, thereby affecting also the special flybys planned by the US Airforce with a B-52 and a formation of 9 F-18 Super Hornets from the Aircraft carrier “Nimitz” which was at that time cruising near the Malaysian coast.
The B-52 appearance was therefore cancelled and 7 of the 9 Super Hornets who had apparently taken off already decided to return to the carrier before having reached Langkawi. Two aircrafts of the formation however continued on their way to Langkawi in spite of the heavy rain and carried out a low flyby almost unseen by the few spectators still enduring the heavy rain. Needless to say, no photographers were in attendance when the Super Hornets made their very loud pass with afterburners over the Langkawi airport.
Later in the afternoon after the rain had stopped, the Russian Knights with their 6 Sukhoi Su-35S took to the sky for the first time without having done a prior verification flight and showed the usual well-rehearsed and attractive routine, starting with 6 aircrafts, then reducing to 4, then to 2 and ending with the solo display by the leader of the Knights. A typical daily flying program would look something like this:
- Malaysian F-18 Hornet solo display 10 minutes, Jupiter Team 17 minutes
- Gamebird GB 1 of the Kota Kinabalu Layang Layang Flight Academy with aerobatic display flown by Capt. John Sham
- Jupiter Team 17 minutes
- Sukhoi Su-30MKM solo display 10 minutes
- Extra 300L solo display 10 minutes flown by Mark Jeffries and Halim Othman
- Russian Knights display 30 minutes.
An den Tagen Dienstag bis Donnerstag fand jeweils nur ein Flugprogramm am Mittag um 12.00 Uhr statt. An den Publikumstagen Freitag und Samstag wurden dagegen zwei identische Segmente geflogen – jeweils um 10:00 Uhr und 14:30 Uh, die jeweils 90 Minuten dauerten.
(Picture courtesy Chakrit Samithinan)
KAI KT-1B (Picture courtesy Chakrit Samithinan)
KAI KT-1B (Picture courtesy Chakrit Samithinan)
KAI KT-1B (Picture courtesy Chakrit Samithinan)
KAI KT-1B (Picture courtesy Chakrit Samithinan)
Game Composites GB1 GameBird (Picture courtesy Chakrit Samithinan)
Game Composites GB1 GameBird (Picture courtesy Chakrit Samithinan)
Extra EA 300/L (Picture courtesy Chakrit Samithinan)
(Picture courtesy Chakrit Samithinan)
Sukhoi Su-35S (Picture courtesy Chakrit Samithinan)
A word on the displays by the Malaysian Hornet and Flanker. Both acts were executed by Malaysia’s top pilots. Their aircrafts had a special paint job with the names “Pikachu” for the yellow F-18 while the Flanker had the Malaysian flag painted on the top side of the aircraft and was named “Toruk Makto”, a name given in the movie Avatar to a mythical hero who leads the people to victory during great times of sorrow.
The “Toruk Makto” was piloted by no less than the Malaysian Air Force Chief himself, i.e. General Tan Sri Mohamed Asghar Khan (Callsign “Gunjiz”) as well as the Commander of the Gong Kedak airbase, Colonel Mohd Norazan Othman (Callsign “Sting”). The show performed by these pilots with their Su-30MKM was nothing less than spectacular, and both pilots showed their very impressive experience gained with thrust vectoring which no doubt now equals the best Russian Su-35 display pilots. It is difficult to describe the hairraising manoeuvres shown by these two pilots and the writer can only refer the reader to video clips shown on the youtube channel.
Sukhoi Su-35S (Picture courtesy Chakrit Samithinan)
Sukhoi Su-35S (Picture courtesy Chakrit Samithinan)
Sukhoi Su-35S (Picture courtesy Chakrit Samithinan)
Sukhoi Su-35S (Picture courtesy Chakrit Samithinan)
Sukhoi Su-35S (Picture courtesy Chakrit Samithinan)
Sukhoi Su-35S (Picture courtesy Chakrit Samithinan)
Sukhoi Su-35S (Picture courtesy Chakrit Samithinan)
Sukhoi Su-35S (Picture courtesy Chakrit Samithinan)
Sukhoi Su-35S (Picture courtesy Chakrit Samithinan)
Sukhoi Su-35S (Picture courtesy Chakrit Samithinan)
Sukhoi Su-35S (Picture courtesy Chakrit Samithinan)
Sukhoi Su-35S (Picture courtesy Chakrit Samithinan)
Sukhoi Su-35S (Picture courtesy Chakrit Samithinan)
Sukhoi Su-35S (Picture courtesy Chakrit Samithinan)
Sukhoi Su-35S (Picture courtesy Chakrit Samithinan)
Sukhoi Su-35S (Picture courtesy Chakrit Samithinan)
Sukhoi Su-35S (Picture courtesy Chakrit Samithinan)
Sukhoi Su-35S (Picture courtesy Chakrit Samithinan)
Sukhoi Su-35S (Picture courtesy Chakrit Samithinan)
Sukhoi Su-35S (Picture courtesy Chakrit Samithinan)
The Static Park
In line with the smaller number of participating aircrafts this year, the static park was somewhat limited in numbers. Among the more important aircrafts on static which did not participate in the flying program, the Embraer C-390, the German A-400M and the Canadian Lockheed CP-140 Aurora stood out.
Among the fighter aircrafts, two Boeing F/A-18E Super Hornets from NAS Lemoore in California and the Singaporean F-15SG were the prominent aircrafts permanently on display. From Malaysia, the Sukhoi Su-30MKM and the F-18D Hornet held a prominent spot on the tarmac.
A disappointment was the total absence of any aircrafts from Malaysia’s neighbor Thailand, whether in the flying program nor in the static park. Apparently, the LIMA organisers simply forgot to send an invitation to the Royal Thai Air Force and when they did shortly before the show, there was not sufficient time for the Thais to send their JAS-39 Gripen due to other commitments.
Then, there were a number of helicopters on display, among them a Sikorsky MH-60R Seahawk from the Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron 49 Detachment 5 also known as the “Salty Clams” from the naval base in San Diego, USA.
Boeing F-18E Super Hornet (Picture courtesy Chakrit Samithinan)
(Picture courtesy Chakrit Samithinan)
Sikorsky MH-60R Seahawk (Picture courtesy Chakrit Samithinan)
Sikorsky MH-60R Seahawk (Picture courtesy Chakrit Samithinan)
Hughes AH-64D Apache(Picture courtesy Chakrit Samithinan)
Mc Donnell Douglas F-15SG Strike Eagle (Picture courtesy Chakrit Samithinan)
Boeing-Vertoll CH-47SD Chinook(Picture courtesy Chakrit Samithinan)
Sukhoi Su-30MKM (Picture courtesy Chakrit Samithinan)
Mc Donnell Douglas FA-18D Hornet (Picture courtesy Chakrit Samithinan)
CASA/IPTN CN-235(Picture courtesy Chakrit Samithinan)
(Picture courtesy Chakrit Samithinan)
Embraer C-390 Millennium (Picture courtesy Chakrit Samithinan)
Airbus A400M Atlas (Picture courtesy Chakrit Samithinan)
Lockheed C-130J Hercules (Picture courtesy Chakrit Samithinan)
ATR 72MP (Picture courtesy Chakrit Samithinan)
Aircraft Industries L 410 NG Picture courtesy Chakrit Samithinan)
Canadair CL-415 (Picture courtesy Chakrit Samithinan)
Lockheed CP-140 Aurora (Picture courtesy Chakrit Samithinan)
Agusta A109 (Picture courtesy Chakrit Samithinan)
Sukhoi Su-30MKM (Picture courtesy Chakrit Samithinan)
Maritime Demonstration at Resort World
As the word LIMA stands for Langkawi International Maritime and Aerospace Exhibition, a maritime demonstration is taking place every time at Resort World. This is done in conjunction with the end of a naval exercise which encompasses navy ships from many countries including the host country as well as among others the United States and Russia. The prime minister of Malaysia conducts a fleet review by passing all the assembled ships where the crew is out on the deck and saluting the passing head of state.
The writer will not report on the navy fleets of the assembled nations and the vessels participating in the maritime demonstrations as it would go beyond the limits of this report. However, photos of the helicopters taking part in this year’s demonstrations are included in this report.
Eurocopter AS 555SN Fennec (Picture courtesy Chakrit Samithinan)
Aérospatiale AS 355N Ecureuil (Picture courtesy Chakrit Samithinan)
Westland WG-13 Super Lynx Mk100 (Picture courtesy Chakrit Samithinan)
Aérospatiale SA 365N3 Dauphin (Picture courtesy Chakrit Samithinan)
Agusta-Westland AW139 (Picture courtesy Chakrit Samithinan)
LIMA Exhibition Hall
As mentioned earlier, 23 foreign companies had a presence in the LIMA exhibition hall. Of the larger countries engaged in the aerospace industry, Turkey, France, South Korea and China stood out as major participants while the participation by the USA was insignificant as was the participation of Russia with only one company (Rosoboronexport). Among more exotic participants, there was a fairly large booth by the Islamic Republic of Iran (see photo).
(Picture courtesy Chakrit Samithinan)
(Picture courtesy Chakrit Samithinan)
(Picture courtesy Chakrit Samithinan)
(Picture courtesy Chakrit Samithinan)
(Picture courtesy Chakrit Samithinan)
Conclusion
The 2025 edition of LIMA clearly suffered in terms of the low number of aircrafts and teams participating in the flying program. This can be partly explained by the fact that Malaysia is no longer looking for a new fighter aircraft and the fact that the Indian Surya Kiran team was no longer allowed to fly to Langkawi while the unrest between India and Pakistan was ongoing. The Malaysian Air Force however came up with their best efforts to fill the obvious gaps in the flying program with well-rehearsed and attractive flying by their Sukhois and Hornets. They deserve full admiration for a job very well done. The organizers of the press center, while trying very hard to show improvements over 2023, were still grappling with shortcomings, particularly with regard to timely information bulletins.
Often, the press and the public did not know what the flying program would be the next day, and it is hoped that this shortcoming can be overcome during the next edition of LIMA. But LIMA clearly suffers another big problem in the eyes of the photographers and spotters who travel from all parts of the world to visit Langkawi. The fact that LIMA has now been held two times during the rainy season should clearly be a strong hint to organizers that the timing of LIMA should revert to March as in earlier years when much better weather and practically no rain can be expected.
At the end of LIMA 2025, the date for the next LIMA had not been announced which might be hopefully a sign that they are deliberating to move LIMA in future back to the month of March. In 2025, rain and overcast skies were ever present which annoyed lots of visitors. Let’s hope that LIMA will in future be held again in months with better weather and less rain.
