Saudi missile development in cooperation with China.
Eye of the Middle East wrote in the report: According to estimates, Saudi Arabia is expanding its arsenal of Chinese-designed ballistic missiles in a situation where it is facing an unprecedented wave of missile and drone attacks by the Ansarullah forces in Yemen.
Satellite images analyzed by US researchers show that Saudi Arabia is expanding its ballistic missile production plant in the al-Dawdami area of Riyadh province to produce larger solid-fuel missiles. These missiles are capable of carrying heavier payloads for longer distances.
It was reported that in 2021, with the help of China, Riyadh began the production of ballistic missiles within this country; However, this country's relations with Beijing in the field of these weapons go back several decades.
Amana Mahor, the senior analyst in the Middle East in the "Location and Data of Armed Conflict Events" project (Ecled), said that Riyadh continues to invest heavily in aircraft and advanced defense systems provided by the United States, while Chinese-designed ballistic missiles provide this country with another tool to carry out long-range attacks without its planes being exposed to the enemy's air defense systems.
Saudi Arabia's traditional reliance on Western suppliers for military equipment has limited its ballistic missile options. This helped Saudi Arabia turn to China as a low-profile supplier of these weapons.
Most importantly, missile power allows Saudi Arabia to actually carry out a nuclear attack if Riyadh acquires nuclear warheads, through their development or in any other way; Something that seems possible today, especially considering that Riyadh is strengthening the alliance with Pakistan./Jamran.