Published: Sunday, 15 Nov 2009 | 5:19 PM ET

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Middle East tension is driving demand for military hardware at the Dubai Air Show which opened on Sunday, but recession means fewer orders for civilian jets.

Ethiopian Airlines offered a glimmer of hope on the civil side, with a $2.9 billion order for 12 Airbus A350s. The carrier had drafted a request for 12 A350-900s in July and made its expansion plans public at Sunday's announcement.

Boeing Military aircraft, such as the Boeing fuel tanker rendered here, dominate the action so far at this year's Dubai Air Show.

The confirmation of the deal is a boost for Airbus as it pushes orders for the future mid-sized jet above the 500 mark.

The European plane maker could bag up to $3.5 billion in airline orders early in the four-day show, including the first for an 840-seat version of its A380 superjumbo, the world's biggest passenger plane.

But it was the Gulf region's role as the world's busiest arms market that dominated day one of the largest Middle Eastern showcase for aviation.

"With more threats and continued tensions, you will have continued demand for new systems and new capabilities, and that is why we have seen ongoing interest in upgrading and renewing fighter fleets," Riad Kahwaji, chief executive of the Institute for Near East and Gulf Military Analysis, told Reuters.

"So long as tension is there, and the situation with Iran is not solved, and there is the threat of terrorism and so forth, I think there will be an ongoing arms race," he added.

The UAE is in talks with France's Dassault Aviation to buy Rafale combat jets which will be on display at the Nov. 15-18 air show. But analysts say the United States has not given up on grabbing a deal.

Raptor on Show

Others reported to be looking to renew fighter fleets include Kuwait and Oman, while sources told Reuters in July that Saudi Arabia was looking to expand a recent purchase of Eurofighter Typhoons and was talking to Boeing

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In a surprise decision, the United States displayed the world's most advanced fighter, the Lockheed Martin

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[LMT  Loading...      ()   ] F-22 Raptor, months after axing a display at the world's largest air show in Paris.

The jet stole the show in Dubai with an exuberant display of American air power aimed at promoting U.S. interests in the Gulf Arab region in front of military and political leaders and under the noses of rival manufacturers.

The 14-minute display by the Raptor, far longer than the three or four minutes typical of most displays, included a series of eye-popping stunts including one where the jet seemed suspended in the sky before abruptly dipping.

The jet is not on sale abroad but its only other major foreign appearance in Britain last year created a buzz and was seen as a possibly deliberate reminder, for buyers of other U.S. hardware and potential enemies alike, of its military reach.

"It is marketing for U.S. equipment, maybe reminding the UAE that there are alternatives to Rafale, but they are also flexing their muscles near Iran," a European defence executive said The biennial air show is taking place a few miles from the mouth of the Gulf and Iran, which remains locked in a dispute with the West over its nuclear programme.

Iran is under pressure to seal a nuclear fuel deal with Washington and other major world powers to help assuage concerns it is trying to develop an atomic bomb. Tehran insists it wants nuclear technology only for civilian purposes.

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