The biggest aviation event in Asia opened Tuesday and as the world industry looks to that part of the world for much of its future growth, the Singapore Air Show has loomed in importance for manufacturers and suppliers. Boeing grabbed the spotlight with the signing ceremony for a 230-plane deal with Lion Air worth almost $23 billion. That easily eclipsed the $10 billion previous record for this show. Of course all the majors and most of the business jet OEMs are in Singapore but Reuters is reporting that the big winners at the show may be military contractors.
China is in the midst of an arms buildup, with military spending expected to double to more than $238 billion by 2015. That means all its neighbors are beefing up their defenses with the latest and greatest hardware. The buildup is tempered by budget problems in Japan and India, the two big spenders in the region.
