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LIMA 2017
Langkawi International Maritime & Aerospace Exhibition
21 - 25 March 2017
Langkawi Airport - Malaysia
 
 
LIMA 2017: Russian Knights aerobatic team to fly new Su-30SM fighter jets for the first time
 
The Russian Knights aerobatic team will perform at the LIMA 2017 air show slated for March 21 to 25 in Malaysia, Russian Aerospace Force Commander-in-Chief Victor Bondarev has told journalists. "Now, the Russian Knights are training [for the show] on their Su-30SMs (NATO reporting name: Flanker-C)", Bondarev said.
     
LIMA 2017 Russian Knights team ly new Su 30SM fighter jets for the first time 640 001 One of the first four Su-30SMs received by the Russian Knights in late 2016
(Credit: Russian Ministry of Defence)
     
"They have completed a conversion course and mastered aerobatics. Then, they will take qualification test flights and debut on their new aircraft abroad - in Malaysia at the LIMA 2017 air show," Bondarev added.

The Russian Knights will fly their fighter jets to Malaysia and perform aerobatics there, including maneuvers reliant on the Su-30SM’s supermaneuverability.

"They will perform in the diamond formation," Bondarev added.

The Russian Knights aerobatic team formed in 1991 has flown the Su-27 (Flanker) for 25 years. The Knights received the Su-30SM advanced supermaneuverable fighters in the fall of 2016 and started learning to fly the advanced aircraft on December 1.

The Su-30SM fighter jet is a specialised version of the thrust-vectoring Su-30MKI and MKM variants for the Russian military, fitted with Bars-R radar and the wide-angle HUD.