The Trump administration is pursuing a sales deal with Saudi Arabia for as many as 48 Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II stealth fighters in a potential multi-billion-dollar deal that is expected to be approved by Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth. The Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) of the Department of Defense, aka the Pentagon, has expressed serious security concerns ahead of a visit by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, according to the New York Times.
Saudi Arabia has security agreements and connections with the People's Republic of China (PRC), which is believed to have developed the J-20 Mighty Dragon based on stolen stealth technology from the F-22 Raptor program. Thus, the probability of the PRC aggressively seeking a means to extract tech secrets from Saudi F-35 Joint Strike Fighters (JSF) is an extremely high risk, as Reuters also covered.
Hocking Stealth Fighters: Dollars Above Defense
arine Corps F-35B Lightning II assigned to Marine Fighter Attack Squadron (VMFA) 225.Credit: Department of Defense
The United States has a long-standing defense relationship with Saudi Arabia, and the Royal Saudi Air Force (RSAF) flies a number of American airframes, including the Boeing F-15. However, the technology used by the United States and its closest allies has never been offered to the RSAF due to the numerous connections it has with states hostile to the US, like Iran, Russia, and the PRC.
Donald Trump even offered sales of the F-35 to India recently, since he began his second term as president. India was a collaborative member of Russia's Sukhoi Su-57 stealth fighter program until 2018. Once again, while the Indian Air Force and Indian Navy operate aircraft made by Boeing, none of those platforms include access to the most advanced weapons technology in the US arsenal, like the F-35 features.
A key component of the sales deal to the Kingdom is for Saudi Arabia to normalize relations with Israel. The Times of Israel reported remarks Trump made before the America Business Forum in Miami.
“We have a lot of people joining now the Abraham Accords. Hopefully, we’ll get Saudi Arabia very soon, but I’m not saying that. I’m not lobbying,”
Keeping America’s Adversaries Closer Than Ever
Marine Corps F-35B Lightning II assigned to VMFA-225.Credit: Department of Defense
The F-35 is the single largest defense program ever undertaken by any military in the history of the world, even greater than the atom bomb and Boeing B-29 Superfortress of World War II. Offering that aircraft and access to all of its Associated technology to a state with well-known security issues and alliance to American adversaries is an unthinkable and potentially devastating act of recklessness.
Trump's first sales pitch to India was shocking, despite it being publicly declined by the nation's leaders. Not only does India operate Russian aircraft, but it also owns the S-400 surface-to-air missile (SAM) system. That is the very same air defense equipment that got Turkey removed from the F-35 joint program when it chose to procure it from Russia, as Aerospace Global News reported.
Although Saudi Arabia does not have any formal security agreements with Russia, nor does it operate military equipment produced by the PRC or Russia, it does have a comprehensive defense program in cooperation with the PRC, which is intended to develop ballistic missile systems, including sales of the CSS-2 (DF-3) to the Kingdom. Saudi Arabia also agreed to a security pact with Iran in 2023 that was brokered by the PRC.
Donald Trump's diplomacy has frequently seen him openly discredit or contradict America’s oldest allies, such as the member nations of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). Yet he has gone on to praise leaders like Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping and even became the first, and only, president to return the salute of a North Korean general.
An individual with the lowest regard for the nation's security and its allies (who jointly developed the F-35 from the beginning of the program), yet the highest respect for its most public enemies, is perhaps not the one who should have the authority to dispense the most precious weapons technology ever developed in American history.
The Trump Admin: No Intelligence Required
The first F-35 Lightning II joint strike fighter to arrive to the 33rd Fighter WingCredit: Department of Defense
Donald Trump made his disdain for and disinterest in American intelligence agencies very clear in his first term in office, which has continued in his second term, according to Politico. He famously refused to meet with the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) on many occasions. The CIA briefing to the President of the United States (POTUS) is one of the fundamental functions of the agency and provides the direct means of delivering the most relevant information possible to the highest office of the land.
Unfortunately, this course of diplomacy is on brand for the Trump Administration. He chose to make a show of welcoming Russia's dictator, Vladimir Putin, when he visited Alaska this year, even as the war in Ukraine rages on. Trump even instructed the US Air Force to park the most precious and highly classified aircraft in its entire inventory on display for his arrival.
The Northrop Grumman B-2 Spirit stealth bombers flying over the summit meeting offered an excellent opportunity for passive intelligence gathering by the Russian diplomatic party. Putin was the leader of the brutal Soviet-era KGB secret police before he rose to the seat of power. The group undoubtedly had a number of intelligence operatives in its ranks.