As early as February 4-8, 2024,Saudi Arabia has hosted defense exhibitions
In this exhibition, China's pavilion covers an area of 4,668 square meters, which is nearly 6 times the size of the Russian pavilion.
Unlike the Russian defense show, the Saudi air show is typical"Large shopping supermarket",If excellent ** equipment can have a high ** degree in it, then what will be greeted is one order after another.
China attaches great importance to the Saudi defense exhibition, especially in the air combat system area, which exhibited a number of star equipment such as J-31 fighters, Y-20 transport aircraft, and Pterodactyl-10 UAVs.
Unexpectedly, the much-talked-about J-31 fighter did not receive any orders, and its $60 million ** is not low among the fifth-generation fightersWhy is it that one is not sold?
FC31's "Waterloo"].
It is very clear that the encounter of the J-31 fighter at the Saudi Defense Exhibition is not due to its own performance or the best reasons.
As a recognized fifth-generation stealth fighter, the overall performance level of the J-31 fighter has basically reached the level of the foreign trade version of the American F35 fighter.
We not only have the idea of making the international market for fifth-generation fighters, but also according to the strategic development direction of our Navy, the PLA Navy will have it in the futurePurchase the J-31 fighter for its own use(that is, J-35) as a demand for carrier-based aircraft.
Therefore, the J-31 fighter is not only China's foreign trade fighter, but also a self-used version of the carrier-based aircraft model, how can we do it poorly?
Besides, the J-31 fighter project was basically carried out at the same time as the J-20, and after so many years of precipitation and development, the fighter is estimated to have been polished quite well.
Although there is not much information about the J-31 fighter now, we have reason to believe itIn some respects, it even surpasses the F35
At present, there are not many fifth-generation fighters launched in the international market, and only one fighter, the American F35, is on sale.
In addition, in addition to China's J-31 fighters, Russia also unveiled its own Su-75 fighters at this defense exhibition.
The Su-75 fighter is aimed at the American F35, which is a single-engine model, which is very different from the double-engine J-31 fighter.
In fact, it doesn't matter if it's Su-75 or F35,And our country's J-31 fighters are not on the same track, and the latter, as a twin-engine fifth-generation fighter, its price is basically the same as some fourth-generation and a half-generation fighters, and the cost performance is not high.
So the question is, why did the J-31 fighter still encounter a "cold winter" at the Saudi Defense Exhibition?
First of all, it is very important to note that no matter how good the cost performance of the J-31 fighter is, in the final analysisSome theoretical figures,Not to mention that it has not been in actual combat, even the PLA itself is not equipped,I didn't even have a word of it, how dare the tyrant countries in the Middle East place place an order?
This is like opening a blind box, a blind box is 60 million US dollars, and the Middle Eastern tyrants are not "stupid", and they know the pros and cons.
The entire international market is there, and the United States is temporarily reluctant to sell fifth-generation fighters to Saudi Arabia and other countries, but if China wants to be the fifth-generation fighter market in the Middle East, then local tyrant countries including Saudi Arabia cannot avoid it.
Instead of buying the J-31 fighter in a blind box now, it is better to wait until this fighter really has specific test data and the PLA equipment to continuously optimize it before buying.
The tyrants of the Middle East are smart, theyIt's not that we look down on our J-31, but to knowEven if you don't buy it now, China will sell it in the future, wait a little longer, and the performance of the J-31 fighter may be even better.
In fact, for this Saudi defense exhibition, it is estimated that our side does not have much expectations for the order of J-31 fighters.
The reason why I will bring it to the exhibition is morePaving the way for the follow-up development of the international marketAnyway, if you have something to do, take it out for a walk, so that everyone can have multiple choices when considering importing fifth-generation fighters.
One more point, so far,The American F35 has already laid "half of the country" in the international market, the countries that have used it all say good.
f35 "preconceived"].
Regardless of the performance of the J-31 fighter and the F35 fighter, the latter has always withstood the test and is recognized as a good equipment.
Taking a step back, even if the performance of the F35 is worse, many countries tend to be conservative and will choose the F35 instead of the J-31 fighter.
At this time, everyone may say, isn't Saudi Arabia and other countries unable to buy F35? Do you have to wait forever?
In fact, this is not necessarily the kind of thinking for the Saudi side, because the United States has exported a special version of the F15 to Saudi Arabia, thenIt may not be impossible for them to import F35 in the future.
Saudi Arabia is a Middle Eastern country with typical American-style equipment, and they are more recognized by the quality of American-style products, and it is reasonable to tend to prefer F35 fighters rather than FC31 fighters.
Finally, based on the consideration of the international political environment, if Saudi Arabia openly purchases China's FC31 fighters, it may cause dissatisfaction in the United States.
In the existing international political environment,Saudi Arabia does not dare to really break with the United States, so it had to have reservations about the J-31 fighter.
Speaking of which, many friends may think that if this continues, does it mean that the J-31 fighter has no way out in the international market?
You know, the fighter with a price of up to 60 million US dollars is unaffordable for many developing countries, and Saudi Arabia and other tyrant countries have reservations, where should the FC31 fighter go?
For such worries, I can only say don't worry, let the bullets fly for a while.
The current market for fifth-generation fighters is monopolized by the United States, which does hinder the access of other countries, butNo one can say what the future holds
It is unlikely that the United States will continue to be so strong, and there will always be a day when their national power will decline to the point where they will not be able to support the global strategyChina's rise is also inevitable
Sometimes the international arms trade market buys and sells not only equipment, but also more complex factors in it.
As long as China is strong enough in the future, no matter how poor the performance of the F-31 fighter is, countries will come to buy it one after another.
It can be seen from this that it is not unreasonable for a weak country to have no diplomacy.
References:
1] The Paper "Aviation Industry Multi-type Equipment Unveiled at the Saudi World Defense Exhibition".
2] CCTV "The Second Saudi Arabia World Defense Exhibition Opens Focusing on Cutting-edge Defense Technology and Displaying the Latest Military Equipment".
3] Global Network "Saudi Arabia Defense Exhibition, the number of Russian exhibitors doubled".