The news that President Donald Trump has agreed in principle to sell the F-35 to Saudi Arabia marks a transformative moment for the Kingdom. For years, Riyadh has sought entry into the exclusive club of states operating fifth-generation aircraft. Now, as the United States recalibrates its Middle East posture and as Saudi Arabia accelerates its modernization under Vision 2030, the convergence of these priorities creates a strategic opening.
The dramatic improvement in range, stealth, and survivability fundamentally changes what Saudi Arabia can do militarily.
This F-35 sale is not merely a military acquisition. It represents a declaration of alignment, ambition, and future orientation between the United States, Saudi Arabia, and the broader West, to include Israel. This is because the F-35 is not simply a fighter jet. It is an operational ecosystem that binds its adopters into shared data networks, shared doctrines, and shared security calculations. For a kingdom seeking to lead the Arab world into a more technologically advanced, strategically anchored future, there is no clearer marker along that path.
The dramatic improvement in range, stealth, and survivability fundamentally changes what Saudi Arabia can do militarily. For decades, Riyadh’s airpower advantage relied on high-end fourth-generation platforms, but those aircraft cannot penetrate modern integrated air-defense systems. The F-35 can. In a region where Iran is fielding advanced Russian and indigenous systems, the ability to conduct deep-strike operations or intelligence-gathering missions with minimal detection is of existential importance. Equally, the F-35’s networked sensor suite would give Saudi pilots a real-time, fused picture of the battlefield, something no other aircraft in the Arab world can provide.
The F-35 also gives the Kingdom credible power-projection capability in a neighborhood defined by strategic volatility. From Iranian naval activity in the Persian Gulf, to Houthi missile and drone attacks from Yemen, to smuggling networks in the Red Sea corridor, the Saudis face threats that extend beyond their borders. A stealth platform able to hold adversary assets at risk, maintain persistent ISR coverage, and integrate with U.S. and Israeli sensors extends the Saudis’ defense capabilities throughout the region.
This leads to another reason the Saudis want this platform. The aircraft offers interoperability with the United States and Israel. Modern coalitions depend on shared data. If Saudi Arabia’s aircraft can plug into the same operational networks as U.S., Israeli, Emirati, or even future coalition forces, the Kingdom moves from being a buyer of American technology to a participant in a collective security ecosystem. This is the heart of the new Middle East being formed, one in which adversaries are deterred not by one state’s unilateral strength, but by the seamless integration of multiple partners.
The aircraft offers [the Saudis] interoperability with the United States and Israel.
Finally, there is the symbolic prestige factor. The F-35 is the most advanced fighter on earth. Possessing it signals that the United States sees you as a key long-term partner, capable of responsible stewardship of world-class military technology. For Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, whose governing vision is defined by modernization, technological dominance, and global relevance, this sale represents validation. It shows that Saudi Arabia is not merely reforming internally but ascending externally, joining the ranks of nations shaping the architecture of the future.
Critics will argue that introducing such advanced capabilities into the region risks escalation, destabilizes balances of power, or complicates Israel’s qualitative military edge. These concerns overlook two truths. First, Saudi Arabia already faces adversaries, state and non-state, who have no qualms about acquiring and deploying precision weapons. Second, the Kingdom’s alignment is clear. Riyadh is not drifting toward Beijing or Moscow. It is anchoring itself, slowly but substantially, to the United States and to the emerging architecture of regional normalization. Allowing adversaries to advance while restraining responsible partners is not a viable strategy.
If executed with proper safeguards against technology leakage, this sale is a strategic investment, not a concession. A Saudi Arabia equipped with the F-35 becomes more capable of defending shared waterways, resisting Iranian coercion, integrating with U.S. operations, and participating in the emerging coalition of moderate states reshaping the Middle East.
