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Topic: Air Warfare, and Trade Blog Brand: The Buzz Region: Middle East Tags: Fighter Jets, JF-17, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Sudanese Civil War, and United Arab Emirates Why Is Saudi Arabia Mediating a Fighter Jet Deal Between Pakistan and Sudan? January 18, 2026 By: Brandon J. Weichert
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Sudan, currently embroiled in a brutal civil war, is the frontline for a regional contest between Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates—and both nations are intent on their side winning.
Saudi Arabia and Pakistan are in talks about a major fighter jet deal. This comes on top of the news that the two countries are increasingly connecting their security policies, possibly even on nuclear weapons—with rumors abounding that the Pakistanis have extended a nuclear umbrella over the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
Meanwhile, news proliferates that both Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, already close allies, are now bringing powerful Turkey into what appears to be a regional tripolar security alliance aimed at deterring both Israel and Iran.
With these moves underway, Riyadh may convert $2 billion in Saudi loans to Pakistan into a massive military purchase of Chinese-licensed JF-17 Thunder fourth-generation warplanes—with an overall value of around $4 billion, including equipment and support for the planes.
To be clear, however, the Saudi Armed Forces are not expected to incorporate these JF-17s into their frontline fleet. Instead, the Saudis aim to retool these birds from Pakistan and sell them to the Sudanese military government of Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, embroiled in a vicious civil war against western warlord Mohammed Hamdan “Hemedti” Dagalo.
As part of the deal, Riyadh is reportedly planning to finance this sale as part of a wider mission of support to Khartoum amidst the ongoing civil war.
Sudan Is the New Frontline in a Saudi-UAE Proxy Fight
As a brief aside, the Sudanese Civil War has become a strange proxy war for Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), with Riyadh backing the internationally recognized government and the UAE supporting Hemedti’s Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
Riyadh views Sudan as a strategic linchpin for its regional interests and strategic goals. Thus, it will not allow for the government of Sudan to fall—hence why it is contemplating financing the deal to sell Pakistani-procured, Chinese-licensed JF-17 Thunders to Sudan.
According to Reuters, Pakistan was negotiating a separate $1.5 billion defense package with Sudan that potentially involved the selling of JF-17s, drones, and light attack aircraft—along with advanced air defense systems—to support Sudan’s fight against the RSF.
Interestingly, Pakistan has been advertising its defense goods on global markets since its impressive defense against India during the brief war last May—particularly the Pakistan Air Force (PAF), utilizing Chinese-made planes and missiles. Now Pakistan is pushing hard to sell their Chinese-licensed systems on the global arms market to undercut Western firms and elevate Pakistan’s defense industrial base and technology.
As of this writing, no deal has been officially concluded. There are multitude of reports indicating the Saudis and Sudanese government, as well as the Pakistani government, are all in negotiations. But no finalized contracts have been signed. What’s more, it is not known how many JF-17s would be involved in the deal or whether they would go from Pakistan to Saudi Arabia, or if they’d go straight from Pakistan to Sudan.
America Would Rather Be the Only Defense Game in Town
The deal raised many eyebrows in Washington, because of how close Saudi Arabia is militarily to both the United States and their European partners. Saudi Arabia’s military is heavily reliant on US military gear. These US-made systems are not interoperable with Chinese systems, like the JF-17.
Further, Saudi Arabia accounts for roughly 24 percent of all US arms over the last five years. In other words, there were fears in Washington that Riyadh was looking to diversify its arsenal by purchasing cheaper, Chinese-licensed systems from an American ally like Pakistan (to avoid too much criticism). If they had done that then the US arms industry would be heavily damaged.
Of course, it does not (as of now) look like that’s what is happening. The Saudis are merely acting as intermediaries in what is a deal to shore up what Riyadh perceives as their interests, rather than a direct attack on US arms manufacturers. As they have demonstrated over and over again, they are willing to pay top dollar for cutting-edge American systems, rather than their more affordable Chinese counterparts.
How Long Before Saudi Arabia Buys Chinese Planes for Itself?
But given the high cost of US weapons and platforms, and the fact that Saudi Arabia is distancing itself from the United States in the wake of Israel’s war in Gaza and the instability in Iran, Saudi leaders might eventually decide to purchase some Chinese systems from Pakistan for themselves.
After all, that’s precisely what the Pakistanis did, and the cheaper Chinese systems proved effective in the air war component of the Indo-Pakistani War. At some point, what would prevent Saudi Arabia from deciding to diversify?
About the Author: Brandon J. Weichert
Brandon J. Weichert is a senior national security editor at The National Interest. Recently, Weichert became the host of The National Security Hour on America Outloud News and iHeartRadio, where he discusses national security policy every Wednesday at 8pm Eastern. Weichert hosts a companion book talk series on Rumble entitled “National Security Talk.” He is also a contributor at Popular Mechanics and has consulted regularly with various government institutions and private organizations on geopolitical issues. Weichert’s writings have appeared in multiple publications, including The Washington Times, National Review, The American Spectator, MSN, and the Asia Times. His books include Winning Space: How America Remains a Superpower, Biohacked: China’s Race to Control Life, and The Shadow War: Iran’s Quest for Supremacy. His newest book, A Disaster of Our Own Making: How the West Lost Ukraine is available for purchase wherever books are sold. He can be followed via Twitter @WeTheBrandon.
Image: Shutterstock / FotoField.
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Источник: nationalinterest.org