OREANDA-NEWS. In the period from 26th to 30th March 2013 the island of Langkawi, Malaysia, hosts LIMA 2013, the Langkawi International Maritime and Aerospace exhibition, at which Rosoboronexport will present advanced samples of Russian military equipment to its Asian partners.

Russia has been exhibiting at the defence shows held in the island of Langkawi since 1991. It was from the very beginning that Russia offered its full support to the LIMA exhibition, which eventually became one of the largest authoritative defence trade events in the Asia Pacific region and a major venue for discussing prospects of military technical cooperation.

"In 2012 the most significant amount of Russia's defence-related exports went to Asia Pacific countries which received 43 percent of our total foreign military sales, - noted Victor Komardin, deputy director general of Rosoboronexport and head of the joint Rostec/Rosoboronexport delegation to the LIMA 2013 exhibition. - It is an objective process, since developing nations in the Asia Pacific vitally need to secure their development plans and protect national interests, and in this area we render them assistance".

At present many Asian states including India, Indonesia, China, Malaysia and others are actively operating Russian aircraft and helicopters, air defence and naval systems, infantry weapons and equipment. Rosoboronexport maintains long-term fruitful relations with most customers in areas related, in particular, to industrial cooperation and setting up of technical support centres and joint production facilities. After-sale servicing of military equipment and delivery of spare parts for it are equally important for the development of Russia's military technical cooperation with Asia Pacific countries.

The Russian exposition at LIMA 2013 is as always impressive: traditional weapon systems such as aircraft, helicopters, armoured vehicles and warships are still in high demand on the market despite changes in the nature of modern warfare and, as a result, in types of weapons employed in combat.

The Rosoboronexport's impressive interactive display system will be used to run presentations for exhibitors and guests to the exhibition of advanced defence products such as the Su-35 multi-role super-manoeuvrable fighter, Yak-130 combat trainer aircraft, Mi-28NE combat helicopter, Mi-35M combat transport helicopter, Ka-52 combat reconnaissance-and-attack helicopter, Mi-26T heavy-lift helicopter, Gepard-3.9 frigate (based on Project 11661 patrol ship), Project 14310 Mirazh and Project 12200 Sobol patrol boats, as well as other modern military items.

Rosoboronexport also offers to its foreign partners the latest air defence/anti-missile systems such as the Antey-2500, Buk-M2E, Tor-M2E, Igla-S missile systems and Pantsir-S1 gun-missile system. Traditionally Russia holds very strong positions in this sector of arms market. The Buk-M2E air defence missile system and Pantsir-S1 air defence gun-missile system should provoke special interest of potential customers not only because of their unique capabilities but also because of lessons learnt at the outset and in the course of recent armed conflicts in North Africa and the Middle East.

Visitors to the Rosoboronexport's stand (Hall A, Stand A221) will be able to familiarise themselves with a wide nomenclature of the latest air-launched and shipborne weapon systems, unmanned aerial vehicles as well as weapons and equipment designed for land forces. It must be also noted that the world market shows a growing interest in Russian tactical command-and-control system simulators.

During the exhibition the world-famous aerobatic team "Russian Knights" of the Russian Air Force will fly live demonstrations. Fighter pilots of the Royal Malaysian Air Force's MiG and Sukhoi aircraft will stage their own spectacular air show. The island of Langkawi will be also visited by a group of ships from the Russian Navy's Pacific Fleet led by the Marshal Shaposhnikov large antisubmarine warfare ship.