Photos: Paris Air Show gets under way

But for all the hoopla about civilian aircraft, the Paris Air Show really is a magnet for the defense sector. "We're going to be looking to what are the overseas opportunities to sell F-15s and F/A-18s and what kind of partnerships we can do with other countries," Dan Beck, a spokesman for the military business of Boeing, told The New York Times.

Here, a soldier clad in a woodland-pattern camouflage uniform and toting unidentified weaponry poses in front of a Sperwer unmanned aerial vehicle from defense manufacturer Sagem. UAVs are growing in popularity for both military and civilian uses.