Why is Saudi Arabia willing to spend $3.5 billion on Dongfeng 3?

1985, Saudi Arabia's ambassador to the United States, Prince Bandal, took the first step and tentatively asked the United States to buy a "spear" ballistic missile. As a result, this tactical surface-to-surface missile with a range of only 120 km was rejected by the United States. After Bandal reported the news to China in frustration, the Saudis began to feel depressed: Where can we find a country that can provide such weapons quickly without proposing restrictive treaties? Prince Sultan, commander of Saudi air defense forces, recommended China, which had not yet established diplomatic relations with Saudi Arabia, to the king.

One transaction exceeds China's foreign exchange reserves.

1987 In the second half of the year, Saudi Arabia decided to order a certain number of Dongfeng -3 missiles in cash, and China promised to carry out infrastructure planning and relevant personnel training for the deployment of these missiles in Saudi Arabia. This transaction is China's largest single arms export to date.