The "Thunder" fighter won the largest export order in history, and this time, Pakistan won the game.
According to Azerbaijan News**, the country's air force has signed an agreement with Pakistan to spend $1.6 billion to buy "Thunder 3" fighter jets. I don't know how many I will buy, but the unit price will definitely not be too low. Because last year, Iraq was rumored to spend $1.1 billion to buy 12 "Thunder 3" fighters, with a unit price approaching $100 million. The number of aircraft to be bought by Azerbaijan will definitely be higher than 12, and the related supporting services will not be less.
Why would Azerbaijan buy Thunder-3 fighters? There are two main reasons for this:
First, Pakistan's "Thunder 3" fighter jets showed their might in the "Indus Shield" joint military exercise, defeating Saudi Arabia's F-15 and Turkey's F-16 in succession. We can say that the Saudi Air Force has poor technical and tactical skills, and the loss to Pakistan's "Thunder 3" is not necessarily that the F-15 is not good, but it may also be that the Saudi pilots are too good. However, the Turkish Air Force is the leader of the Middle East and has rich experience in actual combat, but it is still defeated in the hands of the "Thunder 3". This has to make people pay attention to the fact that "Thunder 3" really has some hardcore technology!
Why can the "Thunder 3" defeat the Saudi F-15 and the Turkish F-16? This stems from its magic upgrade. "Thunder 3" is a product of rebirth, it is no longer a traditional second-generation aircraft, but the strongest existing light fighter of the human air force. Why? Because it is equipped with an active phased array radar, mounted with PL-15 long-range air-to-air missiles, matched with the same helmet as the J-20, and the entire avionics system has been completely refurbished.
Its shell is the Thunder, but its soul already uses part of the J-20 technology. This is the first time in the world for light fighters. In other words, the "Thunder 3" is a light fighter on the surface, but its electronic system, radar system, and ** system are all top-of-the-line. The F-15 was introduced by Saudi Arabia in 1983, and the F-16 by Turkey in 1984. These planes are too old. Why is Turkey stuck in the neck by the United States? It is because Turkey wants to upgrade its old F-16, and the United States has cut off the supply of core components.
The second reason is that the export of "Thunder 3" does not have any other political ** attached. Pay with one hand, deliver with the other, as long as you give money, we will sell.
In 1992, the first Nagorno-Karabakh War broke out between Azerbaijan and Armenia. For Azerbaijan, it was a battle of shame. Because Armenia has been supported by the Soviet Union for a long time, within the Soviet army, Armenia participates in regular front-line combat units, which are well-equipped and of high quality, while Azerbaijan mainly acts as an engineering corps and logistics unit, and when it comes to fighting, it is not Armenia's opponent at all. As a result, the Nagorno-Karabakh region was completely occupied by Armenia.
This place is different from the Crimea and the four regions of Udong. The four oblasts of Crimea and eastern Ukraine originally belonged to Russia and were assigned to Ukraine by the Soviet Union. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Russia did not recognize it and wanted to take it back. The Nagorno-Karabakh region, which originally belonged to Armenia, was annexed to Azerbaijan by the Soviet Union, and 90% of its inhabitants are Armenians. But Azerbaijan thinks that if you give it to me, it will be mine, and you can't take it.
This script is completely reversed from the script of the four regions of Crimea and Ukraine. First of all, Armenia, with its abundant military virtues, defeated Azerbaijan in one fell swoop and forced Azerbaijan to recognize the highly autonomous status of the Nagorno-Karabakh region. Nominally, the Nagorno-Karabakh region maintains a high degree of autonomy, but in practice control is in the hands of Armenia. Armenia believes that as long as it is long enough, it can slowly encroach and annex Nagorno-Karabakh.
However, what Armenia did not expect was that after 20 years of enduring humiliation and burden, Azerbaijan has tried its best to develop its economy, and based on the Baku oil field, it has created industrial clusters such as energy, steel, machinery, and chemicals, and its national strength has soared and its population has sized. The scale of the economy has surpassed that of Armenia in an all-round way. Azerbaijan has a population of 10 million and Armenia has 2.78 million, a difference of 36 times, Azerbaijan's GDP grew to 78.7 billion US dollars, and Armenia was only 19.5 billion US dollars, which is also 4 times worse.
Azerbaijan completed its own battle of revenge, defeating Armenia in one fell swoop, recapturing and eating the Nagorno-Karabakh region. With the money, Azerbaijan, which has also regained lost territory, naturally wants to buy more advanced ** to defend its war results.
Now, the Nagorno-Karabakh War has ended, and Armenia has signed a humiliating treaty of "cession of land and peace". Pakistan, as a neutral third country, sells its best to Azerbaijan, and does not involve the act of arching fire in the slightest. Someone is going to ask, why don't you buy it from China? Why look for Pakistan as a middleman? The reason is simple, the largest production line of "Thunder 3" is in Pakistan, not in China.
Moreover, the "Thunder 3" is an aircraft jointly developed by China and Pakistan. Pakistan is a partner of China and is considered a second shareholder. Looking for a major shareholder, or placing an order with the second shareholder, will not affect the majority shareholder's money. After all, Pakistan only has the assembly plant of "Thunder 3" in its hands, and the technology authorization and parts are all dependent on China.
On the face of it, this is the largest export order in the history of Pakistan's aviation, but it is China that really earns the money.