By Admin 
US President Donald Trump has announced approval to give the world’s most advanced fighter aircraft, F-35 stealth fighter jet, to Saudi Arabia. Trump said on Monday that he is ready to sell F-35 to Saudi Arabia. However, concerns are being raised in the American administration regarding this decision that the technology of this high-tech fighter jet may not reach China. This announcement has come at a time when Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) is just a day away from visiting Washington after eight years.
When Trump was asked whether America would sell this jet to Saudi Arabia, he clearly said, “Yes, we will sell F-35.” This deal is among the many big agreements that may be announced during MBS’s visit to America. According to American officials, the Crown Prince may also announce billions of dollars of investment in the American Artificial Intelligence sector during this visit.
Israel’s increased concern
Israel is most worried about this deal. Israel already uses American F-35 and fears that if Saudi Arabia also gets F-35 jets, its military edge in the region may be weakened. For this reason America is taking extra caution on this deal.
China is now Saudi’s biggest trading partner
The biggest concern of US intelligence agencies is that important technology related to the F-35 could be leaked through hacking, theft or Saudi-China cooperation. Economic and strategic relations between China and Saudi Arabia have strengthened significantly in recent years. Last year, both the countries also conducted joint naval exercises and China is now Saudi’s largest trading partner.
Saudi’s wish list is big
Crown Prince MBS wants agreement in Washington on several important issues, the main ones being the guarantee of US security, the F-35 fighter jet deal and technological and defense investments. According to reports, many big economic and defense agreements can be signed between the two countries during this visit.