DIA warns Chinese telecom inside Saudi bases threatens the $24.3B F-35 sale. Turkey positions KAAN jets and Akinci drones under the Mecca defence pact. September 25, 2026 WASHINGTON — The State Department notified Congress on September 17 of a proposed $24.3 billion sale of forty-eight F-35A stealth fighters to Saudi Arabia, and within a week the deal had collided with a Defence Intelligence Agency assessment warning that Chinese telecommunications equipment inside Saudi military-adjacent facilities makes the kingdom a counterintelligence risk for the most classified aircraft in the American arsenal. Three days later, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan told reporters in … Continue reading Turkey Lost the F-35 and Offered Riyadh the Replacement