Saudi Arabia and Pakistan conduct negotiations regarding purchasing Chinese-Pakistani JF-17 fighters. This is very interesting considering parallel attempts to acquire American F-35s, creating a threat of U.S. secret information could leaking to China.
Reuters writes about negotiations citing two anonymous Pakistani sources. The deal supposedly proceeds as repayment of a $2 billion loan provided to Pakistan within financial aid.
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One source claims this is currently the only loan repayment option, while the overall contract will total $4 billion meaning an additional $2 billion will be spent. Another source claims aircraft are the main but only one possible option.
Defense Express notes that if this proves true, we're facing enormous consecutive success for Pakistani defense industry. Just in the past month, Libya purchased JF-17, and Bangladesh announced intentions to acquire them.
The deal between Saudi Arabia and Pakistan itself also looks logical, considering these countries signed a mutual defense pact in September 2025. So it's unsurprising that within strengthened cooperation, arms trade begins.
From Pakistan's side everything looks perfect it manages to support its own industry and return the $2 billion loan. The fighters themselves may come from their own fleet, but maintenance and additional services will benefit the defense industry. And this expands the operator base.
But from Saudi Arabia's side everything is not so simple, as it is now trying to acquire American F-35s, and although the White House gave verbal permission, formalities are not resolved yet. Worth remembering: JF-17s were developed in cooperation with China, so operating two fighters side-by-side could provide very valuable information about U.S. capabilities and reveal secrets of NATO's main fifth-generation bird.
So it turns out that if agreeing to Pakistan's proposal, Saudis could lose chances for American fighters. Currently there's no official information, so negotiations may lead nowhere. However, the very fact of such possibility already creates serious pressure on Saudi Arabia and threatens disrupting its plans, recalling what happened with Turkey over S-400 purchase.
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