At that time, the Saudis first put forward the willingness to purchase heavy infantry fighting vehicles.

This time, only the British "Ajax" and the German "Jaguar" were available.

Britain and Germany also contacted the Saudi authorities at the first time, sent technical specifications, and even expressed their willingness to provide samples to Saudi Arabia for testing.

It's just that the Saudis don't have much interest in this.

Why?

It's still expensive.

"Ajax" is the latest generation of infantry fighting vehicles developed by the British company BAE Systems, which adheres to the traditional ideas of the British Army, which attaches great importance to protection.

Under normal conditions, the full combat weight of "Ajax" reached 40 tons.

With additional armor, it can exceed 50 tons.

It can be said that "Ajax" is the "challenger" in infantry fighting vehicles.

In fact, BAE Systems advertises that the "Ajax" has protection performance comparable to that of the third-generation main battle tank.

It's just that the problem is also prominent.

Although equipped with a 40-mm cannon that fires countersunk shells, the "Ajax" still lacks firepower and lacks long-range means of attack.

To put it bluntly, BAE Systems is not able to supply anti-tank missiles with a range of up to 10 kilometers.

You must know that in the Saudi military's tender document, the second is that it must be equipped with heavy anti-tank missiles with a range of more than 10 kilometers and can destroy all current main battle tanks, and the third is that this missile is required to be able to fly the entire range within 20 seconds, that is, the average speed must reach at least 500 meters per second, and it is best to shorten the flight time to 15 seconds, that is, the average speed is increased to about 700 meters per second.

The 40-mm machine gun only gave the "Ajax" the ability to suppress infantry fighting vehicles.

When encountering main battle tanks, the 40mm cannon is the ornament.

In addition, the mobility of the "Ajax" is not very prominent, and in the fully plugged state, it cannot even accompany the main battle tank in combat.

It can be said that except for the outstanding protection, the others did not meet the requirements put forward by the Saudi Army.

As for the price, the value is scary.

BAE Systems quoted a unit price of 25 million, and it was pounds.

The performance of the German "Puma" was slightly more balanced, that is, the combat weight was lower and the protection was poorer, while the firepower was stronger and the maneuverability was better.

In the words of the Germans, the "Puma" is capable of being transported by air on such a tactical transport aircraft as the A400.

In fact, this is also one of the main design indicators of the "Jaguar", which limits the full combat weight and cannot be built too large.

The problem is that Saudi Arabia does not have A400 transport planes at all, and there are C-130 and C-17.

Obviously, the C-130 will certainly not be able to deliver infantry fighting vehicles.

If it is transported with C-17, it is also necessary to take into account the full combat weight?

The point is that the "Jaguar" is also ridiculously expensive, with a unit price of up to 22 million euros.

Such a price obviously makes the Saudi military uninterested.

To put it bluntly, so expensive, why not procure main battle tanks?

According to the thinking of the Saudi Army, if infantry fighting vehicles are more expensive than main battle tanks, then simply buy more main battle tanks to equip the troops, reorganize mechanized infantry brigades into armored brigades, increase the use of tank units, and adjust operational tactics.

Of course, there must be something wrong with this line of thinking.

In any case, on many battlefields, the main battle tank cannot completely replace the infantry fighting vehicle.

For example, in the city, due to the limitation of the elevation angle of the main gun, it is difficult for tanks to deal with enemies in high-rise buildings, while infantry fighting vehicles can easily do this.

However, there are solutions.

Similarly, in urban warfare, by installing remote-controlled weapon stations equipped with automatic grenade launchers and even small-caliber machine guns, tanks can gain the ability to deal with high-rise buildings, thereby partially replacing infantry fighting vehicles, or at least less reliant on infantry fighting vehicles.

After approaching British and German arms companies, Saudi Arabia temporarily abandoned the idea of purchasing heavy infantry fighting vehicles.

Of course, the key is that there is no money.

Having bought the "Salman" XE, bought the A-300 ultra-long-range rocket launcher, and also planned to purchase the "Khalid 2", the Saudi Army does not have much money to purchase other equipment.

At that time, the remaining equipment procurement budget of the Saudi Army could not afford to buy expensive British and German goods.

Interestingly, after the Saudi Army abandoned the idea of purchasing heavy infantry fighting vehicles, the UAE and Oman each bought a batch of "Ajax" from the United Kingdom.

Not too many, 80 for one and 60 for one.

Subsequently, the two countries sent all the "Ajax" they bought to Yemen, and also handed over some of them to the Royal Saudi Army.

Obviously, this is for combat testing.

Of course, the battles in Yemen proved that heavy infantry fighting vehicles are worth the money.

The point is that the 40mm cannon is capable of dealing with all but the main battle tank.

Including bunkers reinforced with reinforced concrete reinforcements.

As for protection, I don't have to say it, it's better than M2A3 I don't know how many times.

However, the UAE and Oman did not purchase more "Ajax".

To put it bluntly, it's still too expensive.

Since then, Qatar has purchased a batch of "Pulagars" from Germany, apparently to deal with threats from other countries, after all, the UAE and Oman are Saudi Arabia's petty henchmen.

It's just that the Arab League countries did not abandon the idea of purchasing heavy infantry fighting vehicles.

All that is needed is a heavy infantry fighting vehicle with good enough performance, and also cheap enough.

The only country that can provide heavy infantry fighting vehicles that are good enough and cheap enough is Huaxia.

What's more, Huaxia is indeed developing a heavy infantry fighting vehicle, and it uses the same territory as the light tanks that came out a few years ago.

It's just that during the Iraqi civil war, all Huaxia was able to provide was a heavy infantry fighting vehicle modified with five pairs of wheels, that is, a Type 59 tank chassis.

Obviously, a tyrant country like Saudi Arabia must look down on five pairs of wheels.

Later, on the contrary, Pakistan used the funds provided by Saudi Arabia to transform a batch of Type 69 tanks aided by China and which were about to be scrapped into heavy infantry fighting vehicles, and also sent dozens of them to Saudi Arabia, so that Saudi Arabia could take them to the battlefield in Yemen to test the actual combat value.

Actual combat has proved that this heavy infantry fighting vehicle modified from the Type 69 platform can still take on the big role.

In urban warfare, the range of its combat application is not much smaller than that of "Ajax".

The point is, cheap!

The cost of purchasing one "Ajax" is enough to modify 20 Type 69s.

The problem is also prominent, that is, not modern enough.

Because there is no urgent need for the time being, the existing M2A3 can still be used, and it can still play its due role most of the time, so Saudi Arabia and other countries have time to wait, after all, with the speed of China's development of weapons and equipment, that is, a few years.