DUBAI (UPI) -- Arab states, particularly in the Persian Gulf, are seeking to build up their air power and missile defenses as U.S. arms manufacturers seek to boost up their sales in the Middle East to counter U.S. budget cuts.

Mostly they're looking to their traditional arms suppliers in the West, the United States, Britain and France, but Russia is pushing hard for a piece of the action.
This year's biennial Dubai air show, which opened Sunday in the United Arab Emirates, provided a showcase for the latest technology on offer.
Air power has been the deciding factor in most Middle Eastern conflicts since the 1967 Arab-Israeli conflict, when Israeli warplanes annihilated the air forces of Egypt, Syria and Jordan, largely on the ground, in pre-emptive strikes at the outset.
And for the Persian Gulf states air power and their ability to counter the modern ballistic missile arsenal will be crucial in any conflict that erupts.
“Acquisition of the best air assets as politically and economically feasible -- be these fighter aircraft, helicopters, transports or unmanned aerial vehicles -- has thus become a priority in the Middle East,” an analysis by Germany's Defense Professionals group concluded.
It stressed that the six states of the Persian Gulf Cooperation Council -- Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and Bahrain -- have given top priority to building up their air power.
“Political decision-makers in the region are acutely aware of the importance of air assets and the need to upgrade them with better firepower and/or expanded numbers whenever required,” it said.
The combined air strength of the Persian Gulf Arab states is very impressive.
However, air power is needed not only as a deterrent but as a critical element to counter any future threats.
The PGCC states, along with Egypt and Jordan, are the recipients of U.S. military systems worth more than $20 billion under a package unveiled by President George W. Bush in 2007 to bolster Arab capabilities.
Under this they will be able to acquire advanced systems, some of them long denied Arab states because of Israeli opposition, such as the Patriot air-defense missile, the over-the-horizon AMRAAM air-to-air missile as well as fighter upgrades and electronic systems.
The United Arab Emirates, one of the world's major oil producers, has built up an impressive air strength that rivals the Saudi air force and is currently spending $3.3 billion of the Patriot system manufactured by the Raytheon company of Massachusetts.
U.S. government-to-government arms sales rose 4.7 percent in 2008 to a record $38.1 billion and are expected to total about the same this year, the Pentagon announced Nov. 7.
Among the top buyers were the United Arab Emirates with $7.9 billion, Saudi Arabia with $3.3 billion, Egypt with $2.1 billion and Iraq with $1.6 billion.
Leading U.S. arms manufacturers Lockheed Martin Corp., the Boeing Co., Northrop Grumman Corp., Raytheon and the General Dynamics Corp are all seeking to boost sales in the Middle East to counter U.S. budget cuts that are likely to slow big-ticket purchases by the Pentagon.
The Saudis, apparently with the encouragement of Washington, have offered Moscow an arms-buying package worth more than $2 billion.
The Saudis are offering to buy the S-400 air-defense system, successor to the S-300 and far more dangerous, along with tanks and other systems if Moscow plays ball.
That would crack open the lucrative Persian Gulf arms market for the Russians.
Photo: U.S. Patriot air-defense missile.