"Shaoxia take your money and leave my ship", once upon a time, this sentence resounded in major domestic self-media forums.
Since the Chinese Navy's 052D destroyer group visited the Middle East, the news that Saudi Arabia wants to introduce 052D destroyers from China began to spread widely almost at the same time.
Originally, I thought that in the near future, domestic shipyards would suddenly take out a large number of secretly built Type 052DE destroyers and deliver them to Saudi Arabia at the same time, showing the outside world a Chinese-style oriental shock.
It's a pity that Saudi Arabia officially finalized an agreement with Spain last month to introduce warships, with a total value of $2.1 billion, and Saudi Arabia will purchase five 2,400-ton Aljubail-class frigates from Spain.
When the news came, many netizens in China could not hide their disappointment, what is the secret behind Saudi Arabia's cancellation of the introduction of more advanced 052D destroyers?
Saudi Arabia's abrupt U-turn on warships may seem disappointing, but in fact it is reasonable. Whether from a geopolitical perspective or from a technical point of view, the entry of a world-class warship such as the 052D destroyer into the Middle East will inevitably have a huge impact.
First of all, from a technical point of view, Saudi Arabia previously proposed to purchase the domestic 052DE destroyer, with a full load displacement of more than 7,000 tons, a length of 159 meters, a width of 18 meters, and a combined propulsion power of gas turbine + diesel engine, with a maximum speed of 32 knots, which is a real steel giant at sea.
At the same time, the shipboard armament of the 052D is very advanced, equipped with a four-sided phased array radar, with a maximum detection range of 400 kilometers, capable of monitoring 100 targets at the same time, and responding according to priority, capable of intercepting high-altitude targets, and has extremely strong defense capabilities.
In terms of offensive capability, 052D is equipped with a 64-unit vertical launch system, with a hot and cold universal launcher, which is the so-called "one pit and four bombs", which can launch the YJ-18 anti-ship ballistic missile, the Changjian-10 cruise missile, which are extremely feared by the US military, and even the foreign trade version of the YJ-21 hypersonic anti-ship missile.
With such a strong comprehensive quality, before the 055 destroyer was listed, the 052D was still the strongest active warship of the Chinese Navy a few years ago, and was known as the Chinese Aegis ship.
To sum up, such an advanced warship belongs to the exclusive domain of the navy of a major country, and for the Saudi Navy, there will be a serious strategic spillover.
After all, in the entire Middle East, no country's navy can withstand such a powerful maritime force, and even if Saudi Arabia has the ability to buy 052D destroyers, there is no direct demand, but it will cause unease in neighboring countries.
Moreover, the 052D destroyer itself belongs to heavy equipment with strong political significance, and even belongs to strategic weapons.
Because the 052D can be equipped with the YJ-21 hypersonic anti-ship ballistic missile, the missile uses a double-cone warhead design, with an average flight speed of Mach 6 and a terminal flight speed of Mach 10. In this way, the missile can easily break through the US Aegis anti-missile system and ultimately deal a fatal blow to the aircraft carrier.
In the 2023 Abu Dhabi Defense Exhibition, the Continental Army Industry Department officially launched such military trade products, which made countless countries feel extremely shocked and excited.
The reason is very simple, this package of products is completely China's tailor-made anti-aircraft carrier program for third world countries, which has sounded the clarion call for counter-hegemony and made countries including Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Iran, Egypt and other countries see the hope of confronting US nuclear-powered aircraft carriers.
However, from 2023 to the present, the 052D destroyer has not completed a single signing, not because these countries do not want to have it, but because the countries that are qualified and dare to introduce the 052DE destroyer do not have the funds to buy such advanced warships.
For Saudi Arabia, they have enough financial capacity, but they are still forced by external pressure to rashly introduce the 052DE destroyer.
This is because Saudi Arabia's geopolitical relations are very complicated, on the one hand, it has just reconciled with the Shiites in the Middle East led by Iran, and on the other hand, in the military field, it will be subject to major influence and checks and balances by the United States.
In the past decade, in order to counterbalance the security threat posed by Iran, Saudi Arabia has not only allowed American soldiers to build military bases in its own territory, but also spent $130 billion to buy a large amount of American-style equipment in the past ten years, and all of them were purchased at a price higher than the market price.
For a long time, the local tyrant army of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia was once known as the US military in the Middle East. This kind of arms trade transaction is essentially an act of paying protection money.
Among the small and medium-sized countries in various regions of the world, it is very common for rich small and medium-sized countries to spend money to purchase weapons and equipment from big countries in order to obtain the support and protection of big countries in the military, diplomatic and political fields.
At the same time, with the growth of China's comprehensive strength, a regional medium-sized country such as Saudi Arabia will inevitably choose to bet on both ends to ensure that it will not fall victim to the great power game.
Even if it is the purchase of domestic weapons and equipment, Saudi Arabia is more likely to purchase some medium-sized equipment such as drones and main battle tanks, and the biggest move includes the purchase of a complete set of synthetic brigade equipment.
These weapons and equipment, in essence, do not threaten the maritime hegemony of the United States, so the United States did not react violently accordingly.
If Saudi Arabia buys Type 052D destroyers, it is bound to trigger strong opposition from the United States, and after weighing the pros and cons, Saudi Arabia finally chooses to buy small frigates from Western countries.
Of course, we can't conclude from this that the future 052D will completely lose the possibility of going to the international arms trade market, in terms of product performance alone, the comprehensive quality of 052D has reached a very high level.
Any country that aspires to become a regional power has a rigid demand for 052D, and perhaps Saudi Arabia in the future will still not give up such a top warship.
According to the mainland's consistent principle of doing things, many blockbuster actions are rarely heard by the outside world until they are completed at the last moment.
In the 80s, when China and Saudi Arabia had not yet established diplomatic relations, the mainland had already begun to exert military influence in the Middle East in advance.
Under the close surveillance of the United States, the two countries successfully completed the transaction and cooperation of the Dongfeng-3 ballistic missile, so far, Saudi Arabia has maintained its peaceful environment for more than 30 years by virtue of such a national weapon.
For this kind of military trade cooperation with both risks and benefits, Saudi Arabia has a very high initiative and enthusiasm, perhaps in a large domestic dock, a batch of 052D destroyers for foreign trade has quietly started construction.