In addition to the JF-30, Saudi Arabia has a good chance of becoming the first overseas user of the J-20.

In fact, when the United States announced that it would resume the production line of the F-22A and export it to Japan and Israel after that, Saudi Arabia set its sights on the J-20.

There is no doubt that as long as Israel acquires the F-22A, the Saudis will definitely need a heavy fighter.

In addition, there is Iran.

Let's not forget that after India withdrew from the Su-57 project, Iran became the main potential user of the Su-57 and, most likely, the first abroad.

If Iran acquires the Su-57, then Saudi Arabia will inevitably ask for the J-20.

As early as 2021, Saudi Arabia began to make secret contacts with China to discuss the introduction of J-20, to be precise, whether there is such a possibility.

Because the United States has released rumors of the resumption of F-22A production, Huaxia did not refuse Saudi Arabia's request.

Subsequently, the enterprises that produced the J-20, that is, those that developed the JF-30, began to develop a special Saudi version on the basis of the J-20 according to the needs of the Saudis.

At the Dubai Defense Show 2022, the company also presented a J-20 in desert camouflage livery.

The outside world unanimously believes that this is the J-20 specially developed for Saudi Arabia.

In fact, the sale of J-20 to the Saudis is only a matter of time.

Quite simply, even if the United States does not resume production of the F-22A, with the arrival of the fifth-generation fighter, it is very likely that Huaxia will export the J-20 at the right time.

According to the most optimistic estimates, it can be around 2026 at the earliest, and around 2030 at the latest.

Why?

If nothing else, Huaxia's fifth-generation fighter will be launched around 2030, complete test flights around 2035, and achieve mass production by 2040.

In fact, the United States also has its own fifth-generation fighters, and the progress is faster.

According to outside estimates, the United States is likely to be equipped with fifth-generation fighters around 2035.

It can be seen that if by 2030, Huaxia still refuses to sell the J-20, then if it drags on for a few more years, perhaps no country will be willing to buy this kind of fighter that is about to fall behind.

In fact, this is also the key to the United States' decision to resume production of F-22A and sell F-22A.

Of course, what Saudi Arabia has done is to promote the development of J-20 export-oriented through demand.

In 2021 and 2022, Saudi Arabia provided two research and development funds totaling US$500 million to Huaxia's fighter jet companies through D&F to start the development of the J-20 export version and ensure that the relevant design work can be completed in a timely manner.

Of course, what the Saudis need is certainly not an initial version equipped with the S-10.

According to the requirements put forward by the Saudis at that time, it must be equipped with S-15 engines, as well as vector nozzles developed by Huaxia, as well as the most advanced active phased array radar.

In terms of supporting weapons, PL-12 medium-range missiles and PL-10 combat missiles must be carried.

All in all, everything is the best.

It must be the original goods of Huaxia, not a reduced version for export.

As for the price, it's clearly not a problem.

According to this configuration, the unit price of the J-20 will definitely not be less than 300 million US dollars, and the price of the whole system will definitely be more than 450 million US dollars, including the supporting ammunition and equipment.

Arguably, this is the most expensive fighter ever built, apart from the F-22A.

It's just that Saudi Arabia doesn't think it's expensive.

Why?

At that time, Israel made an estimate that if the F-22A was lifted, then even Israel would get a unit price of more than $500 million.

Obviously, if Saudi Arabia wants to purchase the F-22A, and can buy it, the unit price will inevitably exceed 750 million US dollars.

The question is, how much better can the F-22A sold to the Saudis be than the J-20?

It can be said that even if the United States is willing to sell the F-22A to Saudi Arabia, it will inevitably be a reduced version, which is certainly not a model for the US military's own use, and it is not as good as the model exported to Israel.

If it is a simplified version of the F-22A, it may not be better than the luxury version of the J-20.

According to conservative estimates, Saudi Arabia will need to purchase at least 80 J-20s to replace the EF2000.

Why replace EF2000?

In the Royal Saudi Air Force, it was the EF2000 that served in the air supremacy mission.

The F-15SA purchased from the United States is a heavy multi-role fighter, which is mainly used for ground strike, supplemented by air supremacy, and the EF2000 basically has no ground strike capability.

Obviously, when Saudi Arabia buys the J-20, it will first use it with air supremacy, that is, to replace the EF2000.

Of course, if the price can be slightly lower, Saudi Arabia may buy dozens more to replace some F-15SA.

Quite simply, the J-20 is actually a multi-role fighter, but with a greater focus on air supremacy.

Although the J-20 is not as good as the F-35A and JF-30 in terms of bomb carrying capacity, with its excellent stealth performance, the J-20 is enough to be competent for general ground strike missions.

In addition, with the range advantage inherent in heavy fighters, the J-20 is more suitable for performing deep interrupted bombing missions.

According to the most optimistic estimates, Saudi Arabia is likely to eventually purchase 150 J-20s.

Even if it is only 80 aircraft, it means a market of at least 36 billion US dollars, and for 150 aircraft, Saudi Arabia needs to pay at least 50 billion US dollars.

It can be said that whether it is 36 billion or 50 billion, it is the largest fighter plane deal made by Huaxia.

Of course, this is not counting the JF-30.

According to Saudi Arabia's homecoming, the JF-30 is used to replace all fighters except EF2000 and F-15SA, such as the "Tornado" that has been retired one after another, and the excess number will be used to increase the ** F-20, that is, the J-10D fleet, to improve the strike capability of the Royal Saudi Air Force.

Based on this, the number of JF-30s purchased by Saudi Arabia will not be less than 180 aircraft.

In fact, just to replace the existing fighters, it is also necessary to purchase 120 units.

Based on this, the cost of Saudi Arabia to buy the JF-30 is at least $20 billion, and at most more than $30 billion.

In other words, in the next five to ten years, Saudi Arabia will spend $56 billion to $80 billion to purchase 200 to 330 fourth-generation fighters.

It's just that the JF-30s purchased by Saudi Arabia are all assembled in Pakistan, so they are counted as Pakistan's arms sales orders.

It can be said that tens of billions of dollars of orders are very attractive to everyone.

In fact, in 2022, the United States hinted at Saudi Arabia that it could consider selling a batch of F-35A fighters to Saudi Arabia after 2025.

At the time, the Saudis were really tempted by this.

It's just that after in-depth contact with the United States, Saudi Arabia took the initiative to give up the idea of purchasing F-35A.

Why?

The U.S. is offering a simplified version, and many of the key subsystems are being refused to be supplied to the Saudis on the grounds of secrecy, so the performance of these fighters will be extremely limited.

Obviously, compared with China, this move by the United States is very unkind.

You must know that whether it is the JF-30 or the J-20, which may be sold in the future, Huaxia does not have too many reservations, and basically meets all the requirements put forward by Saudi Arabia.

In addition, China rarely mentions strings attached to the arms trade.

This point is very favored by the Saudi authorities.

The most important thing is actually the huge improvement of Huaxia enterprises in terms of service, to be precise, all the service orientation based on customer needs.

Here, we have to mention another arms deal, the world's largest arms order signed in 2022.

It is still Saudi Arabia that pays the money, and it is still the Huaxia arms enterprises that make money.