Sure enough, the J-10C was ultimately defeated by the Rafale fighter.
After a long period of consideration, Saudi Arabia finally made a decision a few days ago to abandon the possibility of introducing J-10C and instead sought Rafale fighters from France.
At present, Saudi Arabia has formally submitted a request to France for up to 54 Rafale fighters, which means that as long as it is reasonable, Saudi Arabia will finalize this big deal for arms purchases.
The order for 54 fighters, according to France's ** to the United Arab Emirates, is 200 million US dollars each, so the total order for 54 aircraft will be as high as 10.8 billion US dollars, equivalent to 76 billion yuan!
It's a pity that this big deal didn't fall to us.
At the beginning of October, Saudi Arabia signed an agreement with our Hongdu Aircraft Factory to introduce 12 L15 advanced trainer aircraft, which seems to mean that this is Saudi Arabia laying the foundation for the introduction of China's domestic main fighters in the future, but now it seems that this is not the case, and it is indeed a pity.
However, Saudi Arabia's choice of Rafale is not surprising.
As far as the current reality is concerned, there are not many targets for Saudi Arabia to choose from, and the first thing to rule out is Russia, with the current relationship between Saudi Arabia and the United States as quasi-allies, Saudi Arabia is unlikely to successfully introduce Russian-made fighters.
Secondly, the possibility of Saudi Arabia introducing American-made fighters again is also very small, although Saudi Arabia originally liked the American-made F15, but because Saudi Arabia's strategy for the future is to gradually reduce its dependence on the United States for defense, this requires diversification, and the purchase of F15 does not meet strategic needs.
Moreover, there is no suitable option in Europe. Europe's current level of fighter development has lagged behind the first echelon, and Europe can get it, and there is only the first wind left, but the typhoon is jointly developed by Britain, Germany, Italy and Spain, as long as one of the countries does not agree, the typhoon cannot be exported, and it just so happens that Germany is now taking the first embargo against Saudi Arabia.
Therefore, the only ones who can provide Saudi Arabia with air defense needs to meet their air defense needs are France and China.
Compared to France, we have a number of suitable models, namely the J-10C, J-20 and J-35. Although the J-35 has not yet been officially put into service, judging from the latest test flight footage recently circulated on the Internet, the J-35 is basically close to the service time, and the Air Force version has been developed, referring to the experience of the F35, the introduction plan will be finalized before the J-35 is officially put into service, which is also possible.
The J-20, which is currently the absolute first-echelon fighter and our first-class trump card, can definitely meet Saudi Arabia's air defense needs, but it cannot be exported.
There is only J-10C left, compared to F35, J-10C has at least been successfully exported, 36 J-10C have all been spent in the Pakistan Iron Home, in more than a year of use experience, Pakistan Railway's response is still very good, fully able to suppress the gusts of the third brother's family.
If Saudi Arabia locks in the J-10C, we can deliver it all in a short time, as long as Saudi Arabia provides demand, there will be more advantages.
But as for why Saudi Arabia chose Rafale in the end, there may be two reasons.
One is that Saudi Arabia and France have historically had close military-trade ties.
Historically, Saudi Arabia has introduced the French Mirage 2000 fighter jet, and has experience in using the French fighter, and the main Lafayette-class frigate in Saudi Arabia's current service is also made in France, and more than 300 AMX-30B main battle tanks in the army are also made in France.
Second, Saudi Arabia may still lack enough confidence in the J-10C.
Compared with the Rafale, the J-10C has only one overseas user so far, Pakistan Railway, and the Rafale has settled in Sange, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Greece, Croatia, Egypt, and Indonesia also reached an agreement to introduce 42 Rafale on February 10, 2022.
In addition, the actual combat experience of Rafale may also be an important influencing factor. Since its commission, the Rafale has been battle-tested in Afghanistan, Libya, Mali, Iraq and Syria.
Therefore, compared with Rafale, our J-10C may still be a little "young", and potential customers such as Saudi Arabia still have less contact and understanding of J-10C.
But we also need to firmly believe that the future of the J-10C is bright, it has successfully opened up the situation in Pakistan, and the opponent is the Rafale fighter, since the J-10C entered the Pakistan Railway, it has been proved that it can completely match the Rafale, or even surpass the Rafale.
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