A few weeks ago,  the business channels were noticing stocks rise for defense contractors and asking why that would be? Here’s one reason.

On May 1, the Royal Australian Air Force boasted a fleet of no fewer than 93 Boeing-built F/A-18 fighter jets, with 12 more on order. The country also has orders in for a dozen more F-18-derived EA-18G electronic warfare aircraft from Northrop Grumman — and 100 of Lockheed Martin’s fancy new F-35 stealth fighters, with two already in training.

And here’s another. Today, while President Obama visits Vietnam, we learn this.

President Barack Obama announced Monday that the United States would begin selling weapons to the communist nation of Vietnam, a final shift four decades after the two countries engaged in war.