Qatar's Peninsula newspaper reported that defense analysts are "saying that market demand for maritime defense in the region is expected to reach more than $30 billion in the next 20 years."

Saudi Arabia is looking for new frigates but it has been buying them from France for decades and is likely to do so again. Like the United Arab Emirates, it has been building up its naval forces over the last two decades from a coastal defense force to one with blue-water capabilities and reach.

Russia's negotiations with France to buy a Mistral-class amphibious assault ship for $540 million-$675 million and then possibly use the technology to build another three in Russia in partnership with warship-builder DCNS of Cherbourg may not exactly be a great pitch for Russian naval builders but it doesn't seem to have dampened Moscow's drive to boost its warship sales.

The Soviet Union's Cold War clients in the region -- Syria, Algeria, Libya and Yemen -- operate naval units from Kilo-class SSK diesel-electric submarines, Polnochy landing craft, Nanuchka-class corvettes and Osa-class missile craft.

Some are so out of date that they cannot be considered operational. Syria's three submarines, purchased during the Cold War, haven't been to sea for years.

So Russia's naval sales prospects in the Gulf aren't too promising, The United States, Britain, France and Germany remain the leading suppliers of naval vessels, from frigates to mine countermeasures ships.

The Doha showcase, known as DIMDEX, opened Monday and features more than 150 international companies from 35 countries that specialize in maritime defense.

That is a priority issue in the Gulf because of the need to protect offshore oil and gas fields and terminals as well as the shipping lanes through the Gulf, the Arabian Sea and the Red Sea that carry around one-fifth of the world supplies.

Russia's state-run arms exporter, Rosoboronexport, noted that "Russian design bureaus have great capabilities for the development of new ship projects on order from foreign partners or for joint design efforts with foreign shipbuilders.

"At present, Russia can offer baseline ship projects of all classes for such cooperation -- from heavy aircraft carriers to small patrol craft and auxiliary vessels."

It offered more than 500 projects involving combatant vessels, including 8,000-ton missile destroyers, submarines and patrol boats.

Some time ago, Saudi Arabia talks about possible acquiring attack submarines, particularly after Iran got three Kilo-class attacks boats from Russia in the 1990s.

But nothing ever came of that and it's unlikely that any of the Gulf states, with the possible exception of the United Arab Emirates, which has built up naval and air forces that allow the seven-state federation to punch well above its weight, are interested in developing an underwater warfare capability.

Indeed, the centerpiece of the emirates' naval buildup is the Baynunah program, valued at $776 million and counting, that involved the construction of six multi-role, missile-armed corvettes.

Abu Dhabi Ship Building, the flagship of the federation's mushrooming defense industry, is building these along with Constructions Mecanique de Normandie, the French designer. The emirate navy is seeking two new frigates but these too are likely to be acquired from CMN in partnership with ADSB.

The Saudis have been discussing major arms deals with Moscow lately, mainly to induce Russia not to provide regional rival Iran with advanced S-300PMU air-defense systems to protect its nuclear facilities against U.S. or Israeli attack.

So far as is known, the prospective sales focus primarily on air-defense and armor, and with the United States pledged to provide an array of weapons systems to its Gulf allies worth $20 billion to its Gulf allies over the next decade there wouldn't seem to be much wiggle room for the Russians.

But with Saudi-U.S. relations dipping ever since Sept. 11, 2001, the Russians might get lucky.

This is the their first participation at DIMDEX so they're probably not entertaining expectations of large sales this time around with major defense contractors Raytheon, Lockheed Martin and Boeing of the United States, Europe's Thales and Germany's ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems all displaying their wares.

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