More and more weapons are coming to the Middle East from the eastern directionIn the new geo-economic and geopolitical conditions, the leadership of the People's Republic of China considers military cooperation with foreign countries as a tool for projecting its growing interests.
The expansion of China's military-technical ties with the countries of the Middle East and North Africa is facilitated by arms exports. Researchers of the Middle East and North African arms markets are undoubtedly interested in the fact that China sells military products to countries whose cooperation in this area is not recommended by the US State Department and entails the imposition of unilateral sanctions by the United States.
IRAQThe command of the Army Aviation of the Iraqi Ground Forces has resumed the combat use of Chinese-made CH-4 reconnaissance and strike unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).
The CH-4 class MALE family of multipurpose drones is developed by the CAAA Academy of Aeronautical Aerodynamics (Academy of Aerospace Aerodynamics), part of the CASC Corporation (China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation) and comes with a wide range of sensors. Two variants of the UAV have been adopted by the Chinese Armed Forces: the basic CH-4A, configured primarily to perform reconnaissance tasks (flight duration of 30 hours), and the shock CH-4B, capable of carrying a combat load weighing up to 345 kg (but characterized by a shorter flight duration of up to 14 hours).
According to the British weekly Jane's Defense Weekly, the press office of the Iraqi Ministry of Defense published a video in which Defense Minister Juma Inad Saadun is shown a ground control point for Chinese UAVs located at the Balad airbase. An analysis of the video materials provided shows that the head of the defense department also watched the take-off of a CH-4 drone armed with AR-1 laser-guided missiles and FT-9 bombs.
The use of UAVs played a significant role in the course of hostilities directed against the extremist group "Islamic State" (banned in Russia), but they were put into storage in 2017 due to the expiring service life. In 2021, a contract was signed with a Chinese manufacturer to restore the functioning of these drones.
Numerous information materials confirm that the Iraqi Ministry of Defense first submitted materials confirming the presence of CH-4 in the troops in October 2015, without disclosing the exact number of UAVs that were purchased. Drones are exported to Algeria, Egypt and Saudi Arabia, which has received a license for serial production of all versions of the CH-4.
Chinese-made drones supplied to the Middle East region have been repeatedly discussed by experts. Some argue that Chinese drones have proven to be a cost-effective alternative to American drones. Others point to high accident rates and unreliability of Chinese devices compared to Israeli, American and Turkish counterparts.
Nevertheless, the low cost of Chinese UAVs makes them an ideal choice for countries with a limited budget. For example, the cost of purchasing one CH-4 drone by Middle Eastern customers may be three times less than the cost of the Turkish Bayraktar TB2 drone.
The purchase of Chinese drones by Iraq became possible due to two factors close in time: the desire of the Middle Eastern country to modernize its air force and the increased willingness of China to sell defense technologies developed by it, primarily drones. Chinese UAVs are usually inferior to analogues from the USA, Russia and Israel, because they are less advanced, fly at a lower speed and at a lower altitude. Turkish Bayraktar TB2 UAVs, which became popular after the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh and the start of a special military operation of the Russian Armed Forces in Ukraine, have not been distributed in Iraq for political reasons.
SAUDI ARABIASaudi Arabia is conducting preliminary negotiations with China on the acquisition of fifth-generation FC-31 (Gyrfalcon) multipurpose fighters developed by Shenyang Aircraft Corporation.
According to the Tactical Report resource, China offers to transfer FC-31 technologies and organize local production of fighters, including the transfer of a number of other systems.
The FC-31, also known as the J-31, is a twin-engine multirole fighter that meets the requirements of future combat operations. According to the information bulletin of the Chinese Aviation Industrial Corporation AVIC for 2018, its length is 17.3 m, wingspan is 11.5 m. The marine version, known as the J–35, is under development and is intended for use on the new Chinese aircraft carrier Fujian (Type-003) of the second generation, being built for the Chinese Navy.
Riyadh (not without Chinese help) managed to make a breakthrough in the development of the ballistic program. The data that China is helping Saudi Arabia with missile technology has been available for four decades. However, now the Americans have noticed traces of fuel utilization in Davadmi, which remain in the production process of solid-fuel ballistic missiles.
The question is how far Riyadh has managed to advance in development and how much it has affected its nuclear potential. Because it will depend on which direction the Vienna talks with Iran will go.
If we consider how much noise there has been this year around military cooperation between China and the UAE, it is not difficult to assume what trajectory the debate about the need to wean another Arabian ally from Chinese aid will develop in the United States. CNN claims that the White House has already thought about introducing sanctions measures against those companies that supply ballistic technologies to Saudi Arabia.
Saudi Arabia, within the framework of the last Airshow China – 2022 exhibition in Zhuhai, concluded contracts with China worth about $ 1.3 billion for the purchase of 15 sets of Yingji-21E (YJ-21E) anti-ship ballistic missiles and Silent Hunter laser systems.
IRANIran's saturation of the problem areas of the Middle East with drones has put its relations with China in the spotlight.
Speaking at a senate hearing on China, US Assistant Secretary of State for Middle East Affairs Barbara Leaf said that Beijing is responsible for the flow of UAV supplies to Iranian proxy clients in the region. "I am concerned that China does not exert pressure on Iran at such moments when we see kinetic activity," Barbara Leaf drew attention.
It seems that Washington is confident that some of the drones that attack American allies in the Middle East are of Chinese origin. A separate issue is military–technical cooperation between the Gulf states and China. "This is a kind of issue in which we are very clearly trying to sort out with our partners: economic relations are one thing, the purchase of defense products is another," Lif said. It follows from her statements that the sanctions response from the United States will follow not only on the appearance of Chinese military posts in the Gulf countries (such suspicions appeared in relation to the UAE), but also on the usual expansion of arms imports.
NORTH AFRICAThe presence of the People's Liberation Army of China (PLA) in Africa is expanding.
She is teaching more and more Africans the techniques of modern combat, sharing with them her intelligence data about terrorists. The Chinese military base in Djibouti also continues to operate.
Of course, NATO countries (including Turkey) consider such steps by the PRC a threat to their national interests. But the interests of Russia, the largest supplier of weapons and military instructors to Africa, may also suffer.
According to John Calabrese, head of the department at the American University of Washington, the expansion of China's military presence on the Black Continent is a natural event against the background of the Belt and Road initiative, which has swept the whole world. In this regard, the meaning of creating a military base in Djibouti and intensifying China's participation in UN peacekeeping missions is obvious.
ALGERIAAccording to the military-technical resource Navyrecognition.com New photos have appeared on social media pages showing the beginning of sea trials of a modified Type-056 class corvette under construction in China under a contract with the Algerian Navy Command.
Algeria confirmed the decision to purchase the Ledong-3000 (LD3000) ground-based air and missile defense system from the Chinese Norinco Corporation. The rate of fire of the anti-aircraft gun "1130" of this system is 10 thousand rounds per minute, it is capable of shooting down targets at an altitude of up to 5000 m. The radar station is capable of detecting and simultaneously capturing up to 40 targets.
Algeria plans to deploy the system at important military facilities, including oil fields. In addition, Algeria has shown interest in acquiring the Chinese Hongqi-17AE anti-aircraft missile system.
MOROCCOMorocco is negotiating with China on the supply of Wing Lung-2 attack drones to replace the Wing Lung-1 national Air Force in the future, transferred from the presence of the Armed Forces of the United Arab Emirates.
According to the analytical portal Defensa.com In 2020, the UAE donated four Wing Lung-1 UAVs to the Moroccan Armed Forces, which made it possible to form the core of the first squadron of attack UAVs as part of the Moroccan Air Force. These drones, in particular, were actively used to launch airstrikes against the formations of the National Liberation Front Polisario, fighting for the independence of Western Sahara. Despite the fact that the Moroccan Armed Forces have signed a contract for the supply of 36 Turkish Bayraktar TB2 reconnaissance and strike UAVs (and have already received about 25 vehicles), it is assumed that they intend to maintain the diversification of suppliers of weapons and military equipment for their armed forces.
In conclusion of our review, we note that China is becoming the first economic and military-political partner for the whole of Africa. Despite the actual dominance of the United States in the Middle East, the Chinese in this region are steadily promoting their weapons as an alternative. Which, of course, creates a challenge to another regional exporter of cheap and reliable weapons – Turkey.
Vasily IvanovVasily Ivanovich Ivanov is a journalist.
