Recent reports indicate that Saudi Arabia is planning to invest a substantial amount of money in Pakistan to enhance its military capabilities. The key projects of this military upgrade are the HQ-19 air defense system, which is externally known as the "Chinese version of THAAD," and the J-35E fighter jet. If this trend continues, China is likely to receive a significant order for military equipment exports.
According to Pakistani media and military websites, Saudi Arabia plans to initially invest up to $5 billion. This funding will primarily be used to address critical shortcomings in Pakistan's anti-missile and fifth-generation fighter aircraft sectors. It is well known that anti-missile systems are crucial for national air security, while advanced fifth-generation fighters are essential for gaining air superiority. Therefore, Saudi Arabia urgently hopes to purchase China's J-35E fighter jets and the HQ-19 air defense system as soon as possible.
The HQ-19 air defense system is hailed as the "Chinese version of THAAD" and has very advanced performance. The J-35E, as an advanced fifth-generation fighter, possesses formidable combat capabilities. If this military upgrade progresses smoothly, future cooperation between Saudi Arabia and Pakistan may further expand into other weapon areas such as main battle tanks and drones.
It has been reported that Saudi Arabia hopes Pakistan can further deepen its cooperation with China. Specifically, it wants China's weapons to have a higher manufacturing proportion in Pakistan. Saudi Arabia's move has clear strategic purposes, aiming to resolve its over-reliance on Western countries in military equipment through diversified cooperation. After all, over-reliance on one or several countries in military equipment supply can easily lead to constraints, and once international relations change, there could be risks of weapon supply interruption.
After Saudi Arabia and Pakistan signed a joint strategic defense agreement, other Gulf countries also joined in. These actions gradually formed a self-defense alliance among Islamic Sunni states. It is foreseeable that this alliance will carry out larger-scale and more practical cooperation projects in the future. China, with its advanced military technology and reliable weapons, has become their strong support.
For Gulf countries, they do not have direct motives to attack Israel. At present, their most urgent need is to solve the critical defensive issues. In the past, Gulf countries always relied on the United States for security, but reality has disappointed them. Take the case of Israel's bold attack on Qatar, for example; the United States, as an ally, did not provide any prior information at all.
The American war zone website also cited statements from the U.S. Department of Defense to justify the U.S. actions. The U.S. Department of Defense stated that the THAAD system deployed in the Middle East has mainly been used for monitoring Iran, and it was not considered that missile threats might come from the Red Sea direction during planning, so it failed to respond in time. This explanation is obviously a classic case of "this place has no silver three hundred taels," and the Gulf countries have deeply realized that the United States is not reliable when it comes to security guarantees.
The HQ-19 air defense system was first publicly displayed at the 2024 Zhuhai Air Show, and upon its debut, it attracted widespread attention from the outside world, being called the "Chinese version of THAAD." Although specific performance parameters remain mysterious, the general analysis suggests that it has very strong anti-missile capabilities. That is why the Gulf countries have placed their hopes for solving the air defense problem on the HQ-19.
However, the Gulf countries currently have deep ties with the United States in both military and political aspects, and it is not realistic to completely change this relationship in a short period. The Gulf countries still rely on U.S. support in military and political matters, and getting rid of American influence is not something that can be achieved overnight. But Saudi Arabia understands that it cannot fully rely on the United States for security. In the current complex international situation, although Saudi Arabia is not directly purchasing the HQ-19 air defense system, it can go through Pakistan to make the purchase, then deploy the equipment to Saudi Arabia, thereby achieving the purpose of defending Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries. This approach is feasible.
Resolving the air defense issue is not enough; the Gulf countries also need to have certain offensive capabilities to effectively deter Israel. To achieve this, the most practical method is to have advanced aircraft capable of countering the Israeli F-35I fighter jet. Currently, only a few countries in the world can provide such advanced aircraft. According to public information, only China's J-20 and J-35 possess such capabilities.
But the J-20 is an advanced fifth-generation fighter developed independently by China and is not available for export. In this case, the only option that can meet the needs of the Gulf countries is the export version of the J-35, the J-35E.
Faced with Israel's arrogant behavior, Saudi Arabia and the Gulf countries seem helpless. They indeed have the motivation to purchase Chinese weapons to balance the influence of the United States and Israel. However, during the procurement process, the procurement ratio and methods will certainly be constrained by the United States and must be within the range that the United States can tolerate. In the current situation, using Pakistan as an intermediary for procurement is the only viable method.
Advanced Chinese equipment represented by the HQ-19 and J-35E has gained a special status of being able to compete with American weapons, thanks to its excellent performance and reliable quality. Pakistan has played an important role as an intermediary, and together with Israel's recent arrogance, has contributed to the current opportunity for the development of China's military exports. For China's military industry, this is undoubtedly a rare development opportunity, not only enhancing the influence of Chinese weapons in the international market but also further strengthening friendly cooperation between China and Gulf countries.
Original: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7558088045786939942/
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