However, more than 30 years ago, China had a missile trade with Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia spent a huge sum of US$3.5 billion to purchase 35 Dongfeng-3 missiles from China. So far, none of these missiles have been launched.

Saudi 's dilemma

Missile has now become a reflection of a country's national defense strength. It can not only accumulate momentum and act as a deterrent in peacetime, but it can also become a sharp weapon against enemy countries in wartime.

Since the development of missiles does not happen overnight, missile technology is almost a patent of the military powers. Moreover, in order to maintain their military status, major countries will also impose strict restrictions on missile exports.

However, more than 30 years ago, China had a missile trade with Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia spent a huge sum of US$3.5 billion to purchase 35 Dongfeng-3 missiles from China. So far, none of these missiles have been launched. Some people may ask, is it really worth it for Saudi Arabia to buy missiles but not use them?

This starts with the predicament of Saudi Arabia back then. In the late 1980s, the Middle East had a faint tendency to become a " powder keg " . Since humans entered the oil age and rich oil resources were discovered in the Middle East, it has become a place of right and wrong. .

At that time, Saudi Arabia was the largest oil producer in the Middle East and made a lot of money by exporting oil. However, its neighboring countries are also very jealous of Saudi Arabia's resources, and Iraq is one of them.

At that time, Iraq's military strength was among the best among the countries in the Middle East. Both in terms of the number of troops and weapons and equipment, it was a level stronger than Saudi Arabia. Saudi oil tankers are frequently "raided" by Iraq. In addition, Israel is also a serious concern of Saudi Arabia. It often sends military spies to steal Saudi defense secrets and seems to covet Saudi Arabia's wealth.

Faced with threats from neighboring countries, Saudi Arabia is powerless. Although oil has brought a lot of wealth, the improvement of military strength cannot be achieved quickly by spending money. In the end, in order to give Saudi Arabia the confidence to face external threats, the Saudi King decided to import missiles.

Trade accomplished

The reason why Saudi Arabia chose to import missiles is because missile technology is very scarce in all countries in the Middle East. As long as Saudi Arabia has missiles, it will have a unique advantage. However, at that time, only the three major countries, China, the United States and the Soviet Union, had the ability to export missiles. The United States and the Soviet Union were very indifferent to Saudi Arabia's purchase intention. In desperation, Saudi Arabia could only try to hint to China that it hoped to purchase Dongfeng missiles.

At this time, China also has a need to obtain foreign exchange. In the late 1980s, China was in a critical period of reform and opening up, and domestic construction in all aspects required a large amount of funds. Therefore, China showed sufficient sincerity in Saudi Arabia's purchase intention and invited Saudi Arabia to send representatives to China to negotiate matters.

So, the Saudi King sent Prince Sultan to secretly go to China. After Sultan arrived in China, he saw the majesty of the Dongfeng missile and immediately decided to make a deal. Before departure, the Saudi King once told him that Saudi Arabia's budget for purchasing missiles is 8 billion US dollars. As long as this amount does not exceed this amount, he can agree on the spot. According to Prince Sultan's plan, Saudi Arabia will purchase 30 to 40 missiles, with an average budget of no more than US$200 million per missile.

When Prince Sultan asked about the quotation, the Chinese representative only raised one finger, which made him extremely happy: One hundred million US dollars? This is indeed a great deal! So he immediately made the decision and signed the agreement. This stunned the Chinese representatives, because China originally planned to quote a price of 100 million yuan, but it turned out that Saudi Arabia had long been accustomed to settling in US dollars. However, the Chinese representative did not intend to "correct" this problem, but generously donated a missile. In the end, Saudi Arabia purchased 35 Dongfeng-3 missiles for US$3.5 billion.

The value of the transaction

China was very concerned about this transaction. Just two months after Saudi Arabia paid, these Dongfeng missiles were secretly transported to Saudi Arabia. At the same time, China also provided considerate after-sales services, trained a group of technical personnel for the Saudi military, and helped Saudi Arabia establish a "Dongfeng" missile base.

At this time, Saudi Arabia suddenly possessed missile capabilities that other countries in the Middle East did not have. The Dongfeng-3 missile has a range of up to 2,500 kilometers. It is a classic medium-range missile that can fully cover the entire Middle East.With the Dongfeng missile, Saudi Arabia basically has the "foundation of peace and security." Any country that wants to bully Saudi Arabia must consider the power of the Dongfeng missile.

In 1990, Iraq, a powerful country in the Middle East, played the hegemony card and launched an invasion of neighboring Kuwait . Iraq's armored forces are among the best in the Middle East. At this time, Iraq was also coveting Saudi Arabia's rich oil fields, and a large number of armored forces began to move around the Saudi border.

However, with the Dongfeng missiles, Saudi Arabia has the confidence not to be ravaged by other countries. From the time Iraq started to use force, Saudi Arabia began to broadcast the Dongfeng missiles at the missile base on major domestic TV stations. This is a warning to Iraq: If Iraq dares to invade Saudi Arabia, Dongfeng missiles will also destroy important targets in Iraq. In the end, Iraq gave up its plan to invade Saudi Arabia under the deterrence of Dongfeng missiles.

It can be seen that although Saudi Arabia did not use Dongfeng after buying it back, this transaction established a rare long-term peace for Saudi Arabia, and the value of peace is definitely much higher than 3.5 billion US dollars.

From this perspective, Saudi Arabia will definitely make a lot of money by purchasing Dongfeng missiles. Without the invasion of war, Saudi Arabia's economic development has entered the fast lane since then, and now it has become one of the richest countries in the Middle East.