Officials said the state-owned arms agency Rosoboronexport has briefed several Middle East states on launching a range of military and dual-use reconnaissance projects. They said several countries have expressed interests and contracts were signed.

"For a country that has Soviet-origin equipment or limited resources, we offer advantages over Western competitors," an official said.

Officials said Rosoboronexport has been meeting Middle East delegations during MAKS-2007, held from Aug. 21 to Aug. 26 outside Moscow. MAKS, hosted by Rosoboronexport, contains 787 exhibitors, including 247 foreign companies. MAKS has also been attended by 100 delegations, including those from Middle East states.

"The MAKS 2007 Airshow has always been one of the important marketing tools, one of the deciding factors of the commercial progress of the Russian military-technical cooperation with foreign countries, that mostly depends on the activity of Rosoboronexport," Rosoboronexport director-general Sergey Chemezov said.

Over the last two years, Rosoboronexport has expanded its market in such countries as Algeria, Iran, Morocco and Syria. Officials said Saudi Arabia and Turkey were being groomed as future clients in the area of anti-aircraft systems and satellites.

"Rather intensively Rosoboronexport cooperates with Middle East, some states of southeast Asia, North and South Americas," Rosoboronexport said in an Aug. 21 statement.

Rosoboronexport also reported a satellite project with Turkey. The statement said Moscow has completed contracts for the launch of space vehicles into low-earth orbit.

"Contracts on putting into the near-earth orbit of space vehicles for the United Kingdom, Italy, Nigeria, Republic of Korea, Turkey, Germany, Sweden, and some other countries, have been fulfilled successfully," the statement said. "Rosoboronexport's experts can provide detailed reference data on the entire fleet of Russian space vehicles of light, medium and heavy-lift classes."

The Defense Department has notified Congress of a proposed U.S. sale of munitions and weapon systems to Israel. The sale, which could reach $465 million, would include more than 10,000 precision-guided air weapons.

"Israel will maintain its qualitative edge with a balance of new weapons procurement and upgrades supporting its existing systems," the Pentagon's Defense Security Cooperation Agency said. "To support this objective, the United States must provide timely and robust assistance that will help protect the sovereignty of the State of Israel. Israel, which already has these munitions in its inventory, will have no difficulty absorbing these additional kits."

[On Aug. 8, an Israeli newspaper reported that the Bush administration has withheld more than $500 million in U.S. military aid to Israel. The Yediot Aharonot daily said the administration has diverted the aid to finance the procurement of armored vehicles for U.S. troops in Iraq. Israeli ambassador to Washington, Salai Meridor, has denied the report.]

The Pentagon announcement came in wake of an administration plan to sell at least $20 billion worth of weapons to Saudi Arabia and Gulf Cooperation Council states. The plan, which also includes an additional $13 billion in U.S. military aid to Egypt, has been opposed by many in Congress.

In an Aug. 3 statement, the Pentagon agency said Israel would receive 10,000 Joint Direct Attack Munitions tail kits, which convert general purpose bombs into precision munitions. The sale also included 2,500 Paveway II full kits for the MK-82 air warhead; 500 Paveway IIs for the MK-83 warhead, and 1,000 Paveway IIs for the MK-84 warhead.

The proposed arms sale also included 10,000 MK-84 general purpose bombs, 1,500 MK-82 bombs, 2,000 BLU-109 bombs, 50 GBU-28 guided bombs, 10,000 FMU-139 live fuze components and 10,000 FMU-152 live fuze components. The Israeli request also included bomb components, spare parts and personnel training.

Officials said the Israel Air Force depleted its JDAM arsenal within two weeks of the 34-day war with Hizbullah in mid-2006. The war marked Israel's first operational use of JDAM.

The prime contractors in the arms package were identified as Boeing subsidiary McDonnell Douglas, producer of JDAM. Other companies were identified as Alliant Techsystems, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman and General Dynamics.

"The proposed sale will contribute significantly to U.S. strategic and tactical objectives," the agency said. "Israel will maintain its qualitative edge with a balance of new weapons procurement and upgrades supporting its existing systems. To support this objective, the United States must provide timely and robust assistance that will help protect the sovereignty of the State of Israel. Israel, which already has these munitions in its inventory, will have no difficulty absorbing these additional kits."