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Defense Companies Head to LAAD 2009 Defense Show

By on Tuesday, April 14th, 2009

Rio De Janeiro: Defense groups including Lockheed Martin, EADS, BAE Systems and Saab are heading to Rio de Janeiro this week for a Latin American Aero and Defense trade show in the hope of scoring lucrative regional contracts.

Brazilian Defense Minister Nelson Jobim is to open the three-day event on Tuesday. President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva is due to visit later the same day.

LAAD 2009, as it is known, comes amid a growth in military procurement in Latin America, notably in Venezuela, which is on a buying spree of Russian and Chinese weapons and systems; Colombia, which benefits from billions of dollars in US aid; and Brazil, which is looking to boost protection of its increasingly valuable offshore oil fields.

At the same time, several US defense groups are keen to woo Latin American governments to make up for an expected shortfall in military spending under the government of President Barack Obama.

The show is "a priviliged place for talking business but above all for reinforcing technological cooperation between countries," said Jobim, whose country is looking to further develop its arms and aeronautics
industries.

France's Dassault Aviation, Boeing of the United States and Saab Grippen of Sweden are currently also vying to win a multi-billion-dollar contract to supply Brazil with dozens of multi-role combat aircraft to replace its aging Mirage jets.

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