According to "Asian Defense and Security", a source familiar with the Saudi royal family revealed that Saudi Arabia will order 12 Type 052 D frigates from China at one time, and reach an agreement after consultations between China and Saudi Arabia. If this news is true, then the ** of each boat is a billion dollars, which is 12 billion dollars.
$12 billion, even in the world, I'm afraid not many people can get it.
Saudi Arabia once saw the 052 D at the Abu Dhabi defense exhibition in the UAE and has been interested in it ever since. At the beginning, at the exhibition, a Saudi customer stopped when he passed by booth 052 d, took pictures and asked the customer about the details of the product.
Seeing that the Saudi side was very interested in the ship, the representative of the Chinese side led the Saudi delegation to the Type 052 D "Nanning" docked at the wharf, and led them to conduct an on-site inspection and a careful view. The Saudi representative looked left and right, and he couldn't put it down, and he almost signed the contract on the spot.
As a result, some ** in the Middle East began to circulate that Saudi Arabia had begun to acquire China, and said that if it could sign a contract, funding would not be a problem.
When the United States learned of this news, it was very angry and even went to Saudi Arabia in person to stop this huge arms purchase. However, Saudi Arabia, which is in control, looks down on the United States and thinks that it has to buy a large amount of American-style arms from the United States every year, so why can't it buy some from other countries, so it will refuse.
However, since 052 D is a large-scale **, if you want to export it, you must have a special modification. At present, the Chinese Navy is equipped with the 052 D type, while the foreign trade version is the 052 DE, and the overall performance between the two has not changed much, only some slight differences.
Therefore, even if the Saudi side has an intention, it will have to go through a period of careful negotiation before it can be finalized. For example, if Saudi Arabia wants to add a certain kind of performance, or meet a certain performance, Chinese engineers need to estimate it to determine the ** of each non-standard performance.
In this way, the process will last for a long time. Therefore, when a few months after the Abu Dhabi Defense Expo, foreign countries have not yet seen Saudi Arabia and China sign the 052 D order, they believe that this huge order has either failed or the Americans are obstructing it.
However, on December 13 of this year, a well-known military newspaper "Asian Defense Security" suddenly broke a shocking news, that is, Saudi Arabia wants to purchase 12 052 D. Judging from the current situation, it is very likely that this contract is real, but it has not been announced yet.
Many people believe that Saudi Arabia does not have much enemy, and his old rival Iran, with the help of China, has already reached an agreement, and it is impossible to spend 1.2 billion dollars to buy twelve 052 Ds, which is meaningless and will only make people feel that it is burning money.
This sentence may be okay in other countries, but it is not at all appropriate when applied to the wealthy Saudis. Everyone knows that Saudi Arabia has never been short of money, as long as it wakes up, there will be an inexhaustible ** income, which is simply inexhaustible.
For most people, $12 billion may be a lot of money, but for Saudi Arabia, it's just an extra income. And the Saudis are shrewd, and they want to seek more support, which is why they do it. In recent years, Saudi Arabia has purchased a number of American-made products from the United States, and it is also their largest arms manufacturer. Therefore, if any country wants to provoke Saudi Arabia, the Americans will oppose it, who will make them rich?
In the same way, the reason why Saudi Arabia is willing to spend 12 billion US dollars to buy 12 Chinese Type 052 D aircraft carriers is not only because of its quality, but also because it hopes to become a good partner with China. Since the purchase of a nuclear bomb from China, Saudi Arabia's position in the Middle East has become more solid, and most countries will give China a little bit of thin face and will not provoke Saudi Arabia.
In the future, once this super order can be implemented, the friendly relations between China and Saudi Arabia will reach a new level. By then, China's influence in the Middle East will be greatly enhanced.
Most likely, we are also looking forward to the day when 052 d will be delivered to the Saudi Navy.