Venezuela to Test Fire First Air-Launched Missile
By Daniel Cancel and Matthew Walter
Bloomberg News
8:18 AM EDT, May 16, 2008
Venezuela will test its first missile from a Russian Sukhoi fighter jet next week in a maritime exercise, President Hugo Chavez.
The missile has a range of 124 miles Chavez said today in a news conference in Caracas
``We're going to continue to strengthen our defense capacities,'' Chavez said.
The U.S. Navy's plans to re-establish its Fourth Fleet, disbanded in 1950, to oversee ships, aircraft and submarines operating in the Caribbean and Central and South America is a ``perceived threat,'' he said.
In July Chavez will meet with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev in Moscow to discuss more arms purchases, which may include long and short-range anti-aircraft defense systems. Venezuela spent $4.4 billion in weapons purchases from 2003 to 2006 and ranked sixth among developing countries for the period, according to a report by the U.S. Congressional Research Service.
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South Florida Sun-Sentinel
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http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/loc...,1292593.story 
May 18th, 2008
