Dominate South Asia

"Of course, if you want the aircraft to have good maneuverability, you also need a high-thrust engine." The engineer continued to introduce: "Now, we can produce TF41 and F110, two advanced engines, by ourselves, and we have purchased Al-37 engines from the Soviet Union. On the basis of these engines, we need to improve the original F110 engine, increase thrust and thrust-to-weight ratio, and meet the needs of supersonic cruise and maneuverability. Our fighter needs to reach a supersonic cruise speed of at least Mach 1.4 for no less than half an hour."

1.4 Mach supersonic cruise! Prince Sultan was shocked. This fighter sounds much better than the Americans' plan. Only the F-22 developed by the Americans themselves and not intended to be exported has such maneuverability!

"How long do you expect this fighter to be successfully developed?" Khalid asked. After all, the other party's introduction is very good now, but Pakistan's technical strength is there. If it is developed for more than 20 years and still cannot be developed, then it will be meaningless.

"All our technologies are in the preliminary research stage." The engineer said, "Yesterday, we just conducted a supersonic cruise test and have achieved the expected requirements."

Has the test been conducted? Prince Sultan was immediately delighted, which shows that Pakistan has already started to develop this fighter plane down to earth!

"I was here when the test flight was conducted yesterday." Muhammad said, "Come on, I'll take you to see the test plane."

The Saudi representative came out of the conference room and headed for the airport runway outside.

There, a fighter plane was ready to go.

When Prince Sultan and others sat down, they watched the fighter plane take off quickly and short distance, pointing straight to the blue sky. Then in the data of the radar report, it was shown that this fighter plane was conducting supersonic cruise, and Prince Sultan nodded constantly.

"Yes, we are very interested in Pakistan's development of the fourth-generation aircraft." Prince Sultan said: "How much do you plan to invest in this fourth-generation aircraft project?"

"Our department's plan is expected to consume at least 50 billion US dollars, and it may take more than five years." Muhammad said: "In order to speed up the project progress, we are now cooperating with China. Joint development."

Cooperate with China? China is said to have independently developed a third-generation aircraft, which seems to have good performance and is also a canard layout. If Pakistan and China work together, it will definitely speed up the development!

"Okay, we Saudi Arabia can invest 10 billion US dollars in funds, divided into five years, and allocate 2 billion US dollars each year." Prince Sultan said: "However, after the successful development of this fighter, we Saudi Arabia hopes to produce it ourselves."

10 billion US dollars! This amount is definitely not small. After all, Pakistan and China jointly developed this fighter. The plan is to invest about 20 billion US dollars, which is definitely not as much as the United States. After all, the labor cost of Americans is too high. In this way, Saudi Arabia has shared half of the development cost, and Pakistan and China only need to invest 10 billion US dollars, which can be fully borne by both parties.

As for Saudi Arabia's hope to produce it by itself, it can also export an assembly line to Saudi Arabia so that Saudi Arabia can assemble it by itself. As for the most confidential engine, Pakistan has to provide it, and Pakistan needs to help spray the stealth coating and the like.

Muhammad thought about all this quickly in his mind, and then said: "It's completely possible, but Saudi Arabia needs a large number of skilled industrial workers. Aircraft manufacturing requires senior technicians. Saudi Arabia must start now and can send some personnel to our Pakistani factory to learn. After a few years, when they are skilled in technology, they can go back to manufacture."

"Okay, this is the best!" Prince Sultan said happily. Of course, he didn't know that Pakistan had asked for a large number of laborers for free, and only let them participate in the assembly of the aircraft. After returning, they can only do the assembly task. As for other parts, Saudi Arabia needs to continue to send people to learn.

As for Saudi Arabia, they need to explain to their people that they cannot let outsiders think that they are rich only because of oil and that their domestic industry is backward. Look, Saudi Arabia can produce fourth-generation aircraft by itself!

"However, we have another condition." Muhammad said solemnly.

"President Muhammad, please speak." Prince Sultan was very solemn.

"The fourth-generation aircraft is related to the future national defense of our Pakistan and China, so we originally did not intend to export it. The fourth-generation aircraft produced by Saudi Arabia can only be used by Saudi Arabia itself, and foreigners must not be allowed to contact it, and they must not be allowed to obtain any secrets, including Americans."

If the Americans are jealous and have a confrontation exercise or something, and have a thorough understanding of the performance of this fighter, it will be absolutely detrimental to Pakistan's national defense. This is a negative impact. However, if Pakistan and China alone develop the fourth-generation aircraft, they will face the problem of insufficient funding, and the development progress will be very long. It is beneficial to bring Saudi Arabia in and provide funds. After all, joint development is now the mainstream, and it is too expensive.

Moreover, the export of fighter jets is not just about profit, but also related to a country's defense policy. Pakistan's export of fighter jets to Saudi Arabia will further deepen the relationship between the two countries. In the long run, the benefits outweigh the disadvantages.

"Okay, we agree." Prince Sultan said: "Just like the Dongfeng-3 missiles you provided us, the Americans will never get access to them."

The development of the fourth-generation aircraft was decided. Although Prince Sultan needed to return to his country to report to the king, there was no big problem and it would definitely be approved. Pakistan needs to discuss with China and tell China that an investor has come. China should also be able to analyze the interests clearly and agree to Saudi Arabia's participation. Otherwise, they can only break up and do their own things. Without the support of Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, if China develops independently, the fourth-generation aircraft may not be able to have a clear picture until the 21st century.

After all, the current development of the fourth-generation aircraft is completely led by Pakistan. The funding given to Chengfei by China is only to support the third-generation aircraft J-10. The huge investment in the development of the fourth-generation aircraft is still beyond the support of China's current national strength.

In a blink of an eye, Saudi Arabia sent another sum of money to Pakistan. Muhammad was already very satisfied, but then, Prince Sultan's words made Muhammad happy again.

"We want to visit your shipyard this time." Prince Sultan said: "I heard that Pakistan is now independently manufacturing advanced destroyers."

Destroyer! Pakistan's first real Friendship Shield warship, the Hasat class, is now under construction at the Karachi Shipyard in Pakistan. It has been launched and entered the final outfitting stage. At the same time, Pakistan's second self-made aircraft carrier, the Indomitable, is now preparing to build the hull at the shipyard. Pakistan's shipbuilding industry has ushered in a small peak.

Prince Sultan came to Pakistan not only to see Pakistan's wheeled off-road missile launchers, but also to see Pakistan's shipbuilding industry!

Saudi Arabia has ordered several Pakistan-made tankers. After they were put into use, they found that their performance was advanced and not inferior to those made in Western European countries, and the price was cheaper. The warships made in Pakistan were also included in Saudi Arabia's inspection scope!

Muhammad would certainly not refuse. If Saudi Arabia was satisfied with the ordering of Pakistan's Aegis warships, the price of one ship would be at least 2 billion US dollars!

Prince Sultan and his entourage were very excited. On the third day, they came to the Karachi Shipyard on the southern coast of Pakistan.

Compared with the powerful air force, the Saudi Navy is very weak. In later generations, the Saudi Navy is also very weak. The entire navy has only 15,500 people, including 3,000 marines. The main force of the navy is several French-imported Lafayette-class frigates, which Saudi Arabia renamed the Riyadh class. The rest are light frigates and missile speedboats.

In later generations, Saudi Arabia spent a high price to buy littoral combat ships equipped with the Aegis system from the United States. They were not even equipped with Standard 2 missiles. The United States offered a sky-high price of more than 10 billion US dollars, which was almost enough to build an aircraft carrier formation.

Pakistan also spent a huge amount of money when developing its own Aegis warships. Now it is time to recover the costs. The export-type warships must modify the radar parameters, which is completely different from the types used by the country.

The Aegis warship is different from others. Now, except for the United States, no other country has it. Even Western Europe has not developed it. Moreover, Pakistan uses active radar-guided missiles, which are more advanced in performance and more expensive. Muhammad has made plans in his mind. Two billion US dollars per ship is definitely not high!

The Karachi Shipyard has always been a busy scene. Countless cranes are lifting various parts. On the scaffolding on the slipway, arcs are flying, and countless workers are busy.

On the outfitting slipway on the side, Prince Sultan came to the periphery of the Aegis warship being outfitted, looking at the huge outline of the hull, with a face full of excitement.

"This is the most advanced destroyer we are building ourselves," said Muhammad. "It will be equipped with a powerful air-to-air combat system, including four-sided phased array radars and vertically launched missiles, to achieve the ability to counter saturation attacks. Its performance is completely comparable to the US Aegis system." (To be continued ~^~)