Russian defence products missing from Lima 2023

This year's Langkawi International Maritime and Aerospace (Lima) Exhibition was marked by an absence of Russian products, despite the country being Malaysia's main exporter of defence assets. 

However, the country's aerobatic team, the Russian Knights, remained a feature at the maritime and aerospace exhibition.

At the last Lima exhibition in 2019, Russia through the Rostec State Corporation had organised the promotion of several types of helicopters. 

Russia, along with Ukraine and Belarus, withdrew from last year's edition of the Defence Service Asia exhibition, Asia's largest defence and homeland security show, due to its ongoing conflict with Ukraine. 

The reason for its lack of participation in the latest Lima exhibition could not be ascertained. 

It is not known if Russia's absence has to do with its war with Ukraine, where the US and Western countries have launched a global campaign to boycott Moscow.

When contacted, the defence ministry as the organiser of the event declined to comment. 

MalaysiaNow is attempting to reach the Russian embassy for a response. 

Russia is among the strategic defence partners of Malaysia, which is actively lobbying for its MIG-35 and Sukhoi SU-35 aircraft.

Malaysia operates 18 SU-30 aircraft that are still active, while the MIG-29N belonging to the Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) has been discontinued.

The 2003 purchase of SU-30 from Russia involved a value of RM2.2 billion.

In a meeting with then prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad in 2019, Russian President Vladimir Putin offered to take back the Sukhoi and MIG jets and replace them with new Russian-made aircraft. 

The RMAF recently purchased 18 Korean FA-50 planes to replace the British-made Hawk aircraft.