The United Arab Emirates has opened a $2 billion competition to select the weapons that will arm its 80 new F-16C60 Desert Falcon fighters due to arrive in 2004. Raytheon is offering the AIM-120 AMRAAM radar-guided air-to-air missile, the AIM-9M Sidewinder heat-seeking air-to-air missile, the HARM anti-radar air-to-ground missile, the 2000-pound Paveway-II guided bomb, and the AGM-65 Maverick air-to-ground anti-tank missile. Matra-BAe is offering the ASRAAM heat-seeking air-to-air missile. Alenia Marconi is offering the same precision-guided air-to-ground weapons already certified for the Mirage-2000-9. European Aerospace is offering the Autonomous Free Flight Dispenser System, a glide bomb with a range of 10km from low altitude, 20km from higher up.--Stephen V Cole