These 24 AR-3 ultra-long-range rocket launchers are the treasures of the Saudi Army.

As early as three years ago, the Saudi Army fell in love with this kind of ultra-long-range rocket artillery produced in China, whose performance is comparable to that of tactical ballistic missiles.

The reason is actually very simple, the range is long enough, the power is strong enough, and the accuracy is high enough.

It can be said that in the world, except for the Chinese Army's own use, there is no rocket artillery that can be compared with the AR-3 in terms of range, power and accuracy.

With the consistent style of local tyrants, price is definitely not a problem.

According to the purchase agreement first proposed by the Saudi authorities, 72 AR-3 vehicles will be purchased for $2 billion, and a production line for 370mm rockets will be purchased for another $2 billion.

In addition, the Saudis have retained an order of intent for 180 rocket launchers.

If all goes well, the Saudi Army will replace all M3 with AR-270 within ten years.

Anyway, in a word, as long as it is easy to use, then it is worth spending more money.

It's just that the arms deal didn't go well from the start.

It's not that Huaxia refuses to sell, but that Saudi Arabia's request is a bit excessive.

That is, it is necessary to fully load the rocket, not the export type, that is, the maximum range of the rocket must reach 400 kilometers for the Chinese army's own use.

Obviously, this request is indeed a bit excessive.

You know, the maximum range of the AR-3 is limited to 280 kilometers, not without reason.

More than 30 years ago, shortly after the DF-3 was sold to Saudi Arabia, China signed an international treaty restricting the export of medium-range ballistic missiles.

According to the provisions of the treaty, China cannot travel to a ballistic missile with a range of more than 300 kilometers.

Rocket artillery is also within the limits.

Although it is called rocket artillery, the rocket uses inertial guidance equipment, so strictly speaking, it is already a ballistic missile equipped with a guidance system.

So why is the Saudis making such excessive demands?

Quite simply, Saudi Arabia wants to make the AR-3 a strategic deterrent capability, that is, it can reach Israel itself, and its deployment in Kuwait can threaten Tehran.

Obviously, with these two requirements, the range of 280 km is clearly not enough.

Negotiations stalled for more than a year before Saudi Arabia made concessions.

Of course, the purchase quantity and purchase price were also greatly discounted, and 24 AR-3s were bought for 500 million US dollars.

As for the rocket production line mentioned earlier, the Saudi Army has little interest for the time being, but due to the international situation at that time, especially the relationship with the United States, the Saudi Army clearly requires that all rockets be equipped with satellite guidance modules based on the "Beidou" system.

After getting these rocket artillery, the Saudi Army immediately used it.

In Yemen, the 24-gun AR-3 has become the Saudi Army's most important ultra-long-range strike firepower, and is often used for targeted killing missions.

Actual combat has proved that the error of 5 meters is by no means blown out.

In many cases, such as when dealing with time-sensitive targets, the AR-3 is even irreplaceable.

In addition, when performing normal tactical tasks, the range of 280 km is quite enough, and it can even be said that it is more than enough.

It is for this reason that the Saudi Army has decided to increase the number of purchases and purchase a production line of rockets.

Half a year ago, Saudi Arabia officially signed a contract with Huaxia to purchase a rocket production line.

After Saudi Arabia paid the payment, Huaxia also delivered the production equipment as agreed, and sent technical experts to train production personnel for the Royal Saudi Arsenal.

It's just that negotiations on the purchase of rocket artillery were not completed in time.

The key is not the price, but the way of purchase, that is, Saudi Arabia produces 240 rocket launchers domestically, as in the case of buying a production license.

The problem is that as the most advanced ultra-long-range rocket artillery that Huaxia can handle, the AR-3 is only sold as a finished product.

At that time, Huaxia only promised to help the Royal Saudi Arsenal build a maintenance factory to ensure that the AR-3 could be properly maintained in Saudi Arabia.

When the Iraqi civil war broke out, the negotiations came to an abrupt halt.

In addition, according to China's arms sales ban, Saudi Arabia has been unable to directly purchase from China the key equipment necessary for the production of rockets, such as the "Beidou" positioning system.

Although through Pakistan, Saudi Arabia was able to obtain the necessary key equipment, and the rocket production line of the Royal Arsenal was barely operational, the production cost was nearly double that of usual, especially for high-precision rockets equipped with the "Beidou" positioning system.

In fact, rockets produced in Saudi Arabia are inherently more expensive than those imported directly from China.

The reason is also very simple, the price of labor in Saudi Arabia is higher, and many key equipment needs to be imported, and the production cost cannot be reduced at all.

Insisting on the production of ammunition on its own is nothing more than not wanting to be controlled by others.

Even in normal times, the factory price of a 370-mm high-precision rocket is as high as $100,000, a rocket launcher can hit $1 million in a salvo, and an artillery battalion's 24 rocket launchers in a salvo can knock out rockets worth up to $24 million.

Of course, ordinary rockets are much cheaper, costing about $20,000 per unit.

It's just that with such expensive ammunition, even a local tyrant like Saudi Arabia is a little unbearable.

It can be said that there is no absolute necessity, and the Saudi Army will never use such a national treasure-level mass killing weapon.

The use of 24 AR-3s, five volleys, more than 1,000 high-precision rockets, and more than $100 million burned in one go, shows the importance of this battle.

Actually, the key is not Hazy.

Before dawn, the assault force reached the outskirts of Hay.

It's just that Wang Dong did not participate in the battle against Haiyi.

According to his arrangement, the 45st Artillery Battalion, equipped with PLZ-201G, remained to provide artillery support for the mechanized infantry battalion attacking Haiyi.

Of course, the artillery remained in the rear, and there was no need to go to the front line to charge.

At the same time, the coalition forces of the Arab League intensified their bombing of Haiyi.

Although the 101st Mechanized Infantry Battalion was still attacking in front, the posture was like a blow to Haiyi.

At this time, the three battalions led by Wang Dong had already begun to assault north.

The rebels guarding Haily numbered in the thousands, equivalent to two infantry brigades, so Karim had reason to believe that government forces would be delayed for several days in Haiyi.

As a result, Karim will first stabilize Diwaniyah before considering dealing with government forces from south of Kut.

Whether or not you can capture Kut in one fell swoop depends on whether you can capture Kut in time.

The key, obviously, is logistics.

To this end, Wang Dong made full preparations.

That is, Faisal prepared more than a hundred transport helicopters to supply ammunition and other combat materials to the assault forces by air.

As for fuel, it is possible to rely only on the transport convoys of government forces.

Fortunately, it is less than 100 kilometers from Fergir to Kut, and the road distance of "Salman" and "Khalid" is about 500 kilometers.

Besides, Wang Dong also brought dozens of fuel tankers, which were able to replenish fuel for all tank combat vehicles once.

On the morning of the third day, the assault force reached the outskirts of Kut.