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

China s aggressive campaign to steal American military mechanism 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 noted the United States had already rejected the United Arab Emirates and Turkey due to concerns about Chinese equipment exploitation We reported Turkey they re not going to get the F- We described the UAE they re not going to get it because there s concern that there could be a transfer of apparatus to China Wald commented That would maybe 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 particular Wald declared during a briefing at JINSA this week SAUDI CROWN PRINCE BIN SALMAN HIKES COMMITTED US RESOURCES TO NEARLY TChina expert Gordon Chang reported 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 advised 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 declared 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 equipment including stealth designs propulsion systems and advanced avionics U S leaders have previously linked Chinese cyber actors to thefts targeting premier American defense programs including components resembling those unveiled 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 promising diplomatic progress with Israel Ret Lt Gen Robert Ashley former director of the Defense Intelligence Agency stated the United States uses foreign military sales monitoring protocols to reduce menace but the protections are not perfect One of the things that we do through foreign military sales is end-use situation monitoring protocol Ashley explained 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 mentioned 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 disclosed 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 maybe about a five-year window here before that would happen if they got the F- he announced Ashley and Wald mentioned 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 stated 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 declared Having more F- s in the region really increases the capability of the coalition