It can be seen that Huaxia launched the JF-30 at this time and launched a dislocation competition with the F-35A, in fact, to force the United States to lift the ban on the sale of the F-22A and push the F-22A to the international market, so that Huaxia can get the opportunity to export the J-20 and enter the significant heavy fighter market.

For the United States, apart from lifting the ban on the F-22A, what other countermeasures are there?

Obviously, no.

As long as the JF-30 goes on sale, the United States will only be able to export the F-22A in order to maintain its position as the world's number one arms sales power, thereby asserting its global hegemony.

It is a pity that the F-22A has to face not the JF-30 in the international market, but the J-20.

Why, then, did the Huaxia launch the JF-30 only now, and not a few years ago?

Quite simply, the engine.

It was not until the S-15, which was developed in conjunction with the J-20, matured that the J-20 had complete combat effectiveness, and Huaxia was able to develop a single-engine high-thrust heavy fighter.

Without the S-15, everything is empty talk.

The appearance of the S-15 means that the J-20 has fully met the tactical indicators of the Air Force, and it also means that the JF-30 finally has a chance to be born.

Of course, this also means that Huaxia has obtained a heavy fighter that can compete head-to-head with the F-22A.

It's just that for Huaxia, the export of J-20 is more symbolic.

Why?

How many countries do you need heavy fighters, and how many countries can afford them?

Looking at the world, I am afraid that there are less than ten.

Among these countries, the United States, which is overwhelmingly the United States, will unconditionally choose the F-22A, and there is almost no real possibility of buying heavy fighters from China.

Pakistan?

Obviously, Pakistan needs a medium fighter, preferably the JF-30, with a high-thrust engine.

You know, for decades, Pakistan has been equipped with medium and light fighter jets.

Not to mention high-end goods like the J-20, even if it is a third-generation heavy fighter, Pakistan will not need it.

Of course, one is that there is no such financial resources, and the other is that there is no such demand.

For the Pakistan Air Force, the most powerful opponent is the Indian Air Force, so the primary task of the Pakistan Air Force is the local air defense, and the secondary task is shallow and deep ground support, so the Pakistan Air Force has always attached importance to multi-role fighters, especially medium fighters focusing on air defense.

Even if it is necessary to carry out bombing missions in depth, medium fighters are sufficient.

Why?

India's strategic targets that need to be attacked by Pakistan are actually mainly concentrated in the northwest region of India, that is, near the capital New Delhi.

Clearly, Pakistan is also powerless for military objectives in other parts of India.

Combining these factors, Pakistan actually looks at the JF-30 rather than the J-20.

Even if China relaxes export restrictions on J-20s and gives them preferential prices, Pakistan may not buy J-20s at prices several times the JF-30.

Those countries in Africa?

Obviously, for those poor people who can't even afford the JF-20, it is very remarkable to be able to smash the pot and sell iron to build a few JF-30s.

It can be seen that almost none of the possible customers need the J-20.

Of course, heavy fighters are needed, but there are definitely countries that can't buy F-22A, such as Indonesia in Southeast Asia, and Algeria in North Africa.

However, these countries may not necessarily buy the J-20.

The key is still financial resources.

Looking at the longer term, even if these countries need to buy some fourth-generation heavy fighters to save face, the purchase quantity will not be very large.

It can be seen that whether to export the J-20 or not, for China, the key is still political significance.

To put it simply, when both the F-22A and J-20 enter the international arms market, Huaxia will become the only country other than the United States that can provide fourth-generation heavy fighters.

Obviously, the JF-30 is the point.

Immediately after the establishment of the project, Pakistan enlisted Saudi Arabia and other Arab League countries and proposed to participate in the development of the JF-30 in a joint way.

Subsequently, Saudi Arabia was the first to join.

Involved in the JF-30 project is the Saudi state-run Royal Aircraft Factory, which is jointly funded by the Royal Saudi Arsenal and D&F Saudi Arabia.

That is, through the Royal Saudi Aircraft Factory, D&F began to enter the aircraft industry.

That's a bit of an exaggeration.

In the main project, the Huaxia aircraft factory is the leading role, followed by the Pakistani national aircraft factory, and finally the Royal Saudi Aircraft Factory, while D&F's role is really to ensure that a maintenance plant is established in Saudi Arabia after the project is completed.

To put it simply, after the purchase of the JF-30 in Saudi Arabia, it will be maintained in the country.

In fact, this is also the minimum requirement put forward by Saudi Arabia.

Although at the beginning, the Saudis at one time hoped to be able to acquire a production line for domestic production, to be precise, to assemble such fighters.

It is obviously impossible to fully produce by itself, after all, most of the core technology comes from Huaxia, and it may not be exported to the outside world.

After intensive negotiations with Pakistan, the Saudis dropped the demand.

Quite simply, the production is simply too small.

According to initial estimates, Pakistan will purchase up to 120 aircraft, and perhaps only 80, mainly to replace the F-16s in service.

Saudi Arabia also purchases between 120 and 180 aircraft, and certainly will not exceed 200.

Even if the Gulf states such as Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates and Oman join in, the total number of aircraft purchased will not exceed 300.

Based on this calculation, the export scale of the JF-30 will not exceed 600 aircraft.

With this amount of output, one production line is sufficient, and there is no need to open another production line outside Pakistan at all.

After all, the cost of setting up a production line is certainly not low.

Fortunately, the guaranteed production of 600 aircraft is enough to ensure that the JF-30 project will not lose money.

In fact, according to the estimates of Huaxia enterprises, the profit and loss line of JF-30 is about 500 aircraft, that is, at least 500 aircraft need to be produced to ensure profitability.

If you can sell 600 units, you can make a small profit.

The key is still time, that is, whether it can be finalized by 2026 and mass production can begin.

Fortunately, judging from the development progress of the first year or so, the certainty of finalization in 2026 is definitely not small.

You must know that in just over a year, Huaxia has built 6 prototypes of the JF-30, and the initial test flight work is going very smoothly.

According to the most optimistic estimates, the JF-30 will be able to complete all test flights by the end of 2025.

If all goes well, the first low-speed production JF-30s will roll off the assembly line in mid-2026 and be ready for delivery to customers by the end of the year.

Of course, according to the contract, as long as the test flight of the JF-30 progresses smoothly, Saudi Arabia and other countries will sign the first procurement contract before the end of 2024, and Pakistan will determine the production plan of the JF-30 at the end of 2025 or early 2026 according to the number of orders from Saudi Arabia and other countries.

As expected, Saudi Arabia will become the first country after Pakistan to equip the JF-30.