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According to external reports, Saudi Arabia wants to order 12 Chinese Aegis ships
According to external network reports, the Saudi military intends to order 12 052D export version Aegis-class destroyers on the mainland. If signed, it would be the largest military order since the founding of the mainland, worth at least tens of billions of dollars.
Saudi Arabia was originally going to sign up to order U.S. warships, but U.S. warships were too expensive. In October 2019, Saudi Arabia ordered four U.S. littoral combat ships for a total value of $12 billion and one littoral combat ship worth $3 billion. And the littoral combat ship is at most the strength of 1 mainland 054A frigate, but the price is more than 10 times that of the 054A frigate.
If Saudi Arabia wants to order Aegis-class destroyers from the United States, it will cost at least 7-8 billion US dollars 1. And ordering the mainland 052D China Aegis-class destroyer for only 1 billion US dollars. With one-seventh or even one-eighth of the price, you can also get a product with similar performance.
More than $10 billion is not a lot of money for the entire Saudi country. After all, Ronaldo plays in Saudi United and earns more than $200 million a year.
But the 12 Aegis 052D-class Aegis ships could instantly make Saudi Arabia the most powerful maritime power in the entire Middle East, Africa and the entire Indian Ocean. Even the Indian Navy is in a hurry.
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How powerful are the 052D Aegis-class destroyers?
The 052D Aegis ship has a displacement of 7,500 tons and has a four-sided large active phased array radar, which can detect targets 400 kilometers away and track and lock 100 targets at the same time. There are 64-cell missile launch systems that can launch Eagle Strike-18 anti-ship missiles, Haihongqi-9B anti-aircraft missiles, Yu-8 anti-submarine missiles and Changjian-10 cruise missiles.
If you add money, you can also carry the Eagle Strike 21E hypersonic anti-ship missile, and 6 times the speed of sound long-range assault can directly hit the aircraft carrier. One 052D ship is equipped with 12 Eagle Strike 21E hypersonic anti-ship missiles, and 12 052D Aegis ships are 144 Eagle Strike 21E hypersonic anti-ship missiles.
Not to mention India's small aircraft carrier of tens of thousands of tons and short-legged MiG-29 carrier-based aircraft, even the US 100,000-ton nuclear aircraft carrier also looks at 144 hypersonic anti-ship missiles and runs quickly and hides away.
With 12 052D Aegis-class destroyers, the Saudi Navy has 12 large mobile air and missile platforms. It can effectively counter Iranian missile strikes and the Israeli Air Force.
At the same time, Saudi Arabia also has the ability to strike targets in depth on land, and the cruise missile strike capability of 12 052D Aegis-class destroyers far exceeds that of Russia's Black Sea Fleet. Moreover, the 12 052D Aegis-class destroyers have sea control capabilities, detection capabilities, and target locking capabilities.
On the one hand, it can improve Saudi air defense and anti-missile capabilities, while protecting Saudi oil facilities, coastal cities, and escorting Saudi oil carriers.
Recently, Algeria has just ordered 6 052D destroyers, and now Saudi Arabia is ordering 12 052D destroyers, and the oil giants in the Middle East look like they are about to make a big move. The point is that the only countries capable of exporting Aegis-class destroyers are us and the United States.
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The export of 18 Aegis ships will not go smoothly, and the United States will definitely make trouble
The export of 18 052D Aegis-class destroyers to Saudi Arabia and Algeria will certainly not go well. Not only will the United States do its best to stop it, but also countries such as India.
Because once Algeria has 6 Aegis ships, then in the entire Mediterranean region, except for the US Navy, Algeria is the strongest.
In the Mediterranean, France and Italy's strongest surface ships are Horizon-class destroyers, which actually have only 48 missile vertical systems, and they are single-sided passive phased array radars, and the number is only 4. Once Algeria has six Aegis ships, it will upset the balance.
Once Saudi Arabia has 12 Aegis ships, the Israeli and Iranian navies will be completely crushed when they are tied together. Even Iran's superiority in ballistic and cruise missiles will no longer exist. In terms of ground strikes, 12 Aegis ships are equivalent to 12 missile regiments that can maneuver over a wide range of seas.