Ex-general says Saudis unlikely to leak F-35 tech, but China 'could exploit through intel'

China s aggressive campaign to steal American military system is emerging as a central concern in the debate over whether the United States should sell F- fighter jets to Saudi Arabia according to experts and retired senior military commanders Ret Gen Charles Wald a former U S Air Force officer and former deputy commander of EUCOM explained the United States had already rejected the United Arab Emirates and Turkey due to concerns about Chinese innovation exploitation We communicated Turkey they re not going to get the F- We advised the UAE they re not going to get it because there s concern that there could be a transfer of equipment to China Wald noted That would supposedly be the biggest issue with Saudi Arabia getting the F- Not because they would give it to the Chinese Because the Chinese could exploit through intel getting capability off that but I m not as worried as specific Wald commented during a briefing at JINSA this week SAUDI CROWN PRINCE BIN SALMAN HIKES COMMITTED US VENTURE TO NEARLY TChina expert Gordon Chang explained Beijing has already demonstrated its ability to penetrate U S defense programs and should be assumed to be targeting the F- again We should assume China has everything already They already stole the whole plane once They likely did it again Chang reported Fox News Digital He argued that Washington must balance the risks with the strategic benefits of strengthening ties with Riyadh We need to cement the relationship with the crown prince especially if that helps him sign off on an Abraham Accord Let him have stripped-down F- s he announced He added that other U S partners may present even greater concerns I m much more worried about South Korea having the plane and turning over the plans to China Chinese intelligence services have been implicated for years in efforts to harvest American military and aerospace hardware including stealth designs propulsion systems and advanced avionics U S bureaucrats have previously linked Chinese cyber actors to thefts targeting premier American defense programs including components resembling those uncovered in fifth-generation fighters AMERICA S BAT MAN UNVEILS TECH BUILT TO OUTSMART A CHINESE FIRST STRIKEAgainst that backdrop the United States is weighing whether to approve Saudi Arabia s request for the F- as part of a broader negotiation that includes defense assurances and prospective diplomatic progress with Israel Ret Lt Gen Robert Ashley former director of the Defense Intelligence Agency noted the United States uses foreign military sales monitoring protocols to reduce exposure but the protections are not perfect One of the things that we do through foreign military sales is end-use episode monitoring protocol Ashley mentioned We watch very closely how these kinds of advanced systems are used but they re not absolute SAUDI ARABIA IS ALREADY AMERICA S TOP ARMS BUYER AND NOW TRUMP WANTS TO ADD F- SDespite the China threat the retired commanders explained they do not believe a Saudi F- acquisition would undermine Israel s qualitative military edge Wald emphasized that Israeli pilots planners and engineers maintain a superior level of training and innovation There s a big difference between the Israeli actual pilot capability than the other countries out there Wald commented He added that Israel has integrated its own upgrades into the aircraft The Israelis modified their own F- a little bit they created or developed additional capabilities just prior to the attack on Iran Wald noted that even if approved Riyadh would not receive the aircraft for years At the very least there s allegedly about a five-year window here before that would happen if they got the F- he commented Ashley and Wald commented that in the long term additional F- s in the region could enhance shared situational awareness and strengthen collective defenses against Iran Retired Vice Adm Mark Fox noted the fighter s data-sharing architecture means more aircraft in allied hands improves overall performance The one thing about F- is it talks to every other F- Fox noted Having more F- s in the region veritably increases the capability of the coalition