146: Chapter 146 Riyadh's Arms Feast

Riyadh International Convention and Exhibition Center, December 20, 15:00 (Riyadh time).

The 5,000-seat main hall was packed. Military representatives, Secretaries of Defense, and arms procurement officers from 48 countries, as well as executives from major global arms dealers, were all present.

The lights dimmed, with only a spotlight on the center stage.

Fahd stepped onto the stage. At 40, he wore a tailored dark gray suit, neither wearing a traditional robe nor a headscarf. His dual master's degree in political science and engineering from Oxford made him look more like a Silicon Valley CEO than an Arab prince.

"Ladies and gentlemen, good afternoon." He began, his fluent English carrying a standard Oxford accent. "Today, we are not here to talk about religion, politics, or geopolitical games. Today, we are here to talk about one thing—"

He paused, scanning the room.

"The right to survive."

The big screen lit up, playing a demo video.

Scene 1: Deep in the Saudi desert, sandstorm weather.

Three 'thunderbird 3' reconnaissance drones took off from hidden launchers, rushing into the swirling yellow sand. The adaptive camouflage coating on the fuselage changed color, quickly blending into the sandstorm background.

The drone's perspective: In a sandstorm with less than 50 meters of visibility, thermal imaging and synthetic aperture radar fused to clearly display simulated enemy positions 10 kilometers away—tanks, radar stations, command posts; every target was marked, ranged, and identified.

Subtitle: 'thunderbird 3, 8-hour loitering time, maximum range 1200 km, capable of reconnaissance missions in level 7 sandstorms.'

Scene 2: Mountain terrain.

Hundreds of 'wasp m2' smart attack drones swarmed out of container-style launchers like locusts. They automatically formed formations in the air, splitting into ten clusters, each with a leader drone and attack drones.

AI voice sounded: 'Target allocation in progress... Cluster 1 attacking radar station, Cluster 2 attacking anti-aircraft missiles, Cluster 3 attacking command vehicles...'

The drone swarm dove down. Some fired micro-missiles, some crashed directly into targets, others released interference flares. Within 30 seconds, the simulated position was completely destroyed.

Subtitle: 'wasp m2, unit cost $25,000, capable of swarm operations with 100 units, AI autonomous identification, formation, and coordinated attacks.'

Scene 3: Shooting range.

A 'rhino a2' heavy attack drone hovered at an altitude of 2000 meters. The 'Armor-Piercing Spear' missile mounted under the fuselage locked onto a ground target—a retired hull of a US-made M1A1 tank.

The missile launched, trailing a white exhaust. As it approached the target, the warhead suddenly accelerated, penetrating the thinnest armor on top of the tank at a near-vertical angle.

Slow motion showed the armor-piercing warhead drilling into the turret, the internal charge detonating with a delay—exploding from the inside. The M1A1's turret was blown off entirely, tumbling three times in the air before crashing to the ground.

Subtitle: 'rhino a2, maximum payload 500 kg, can carry anti-tank missiles, precision-guided bombs, electronic warfare pods. Armor-Piercing Spear missile can penetrate 900 mm of homogeneous steel armor.'

Scene 4: Air defense test.

An individual soldier shouldered the 'F1 Individual Air Defense Missile,' locking onto a high-speed raiding target drone. The missile launched, dual-band infrared seekers tracking both the engine exhaust and the skin friction heat source.

The target drone released infrared flares, but the missile identified the decoy and continued tracking the target. 3 seconds later, the target drone was blown apart in mid-air.

Subtitle: 'F1 Individual Air Defense Missile, total system weight 18 kg, operational slant range 500-5000 meters, capable of intercepting cruise missiles, drones, and low-altitude aircraft.'

Scene 5: Rocket artillery volley.

A company-level 'H1 Multi-function Rocket Artillery' system, six launch vehicles fired simultaneously. 300mm rockets rose with exhaust flames, adjusting trajectories in the air.

In the target area 280 kilometers away, explosions bloomed continuously. Drone footage played back: six football-field-sized simulated airports, runways, hangars, and oil depots were all precisely covered.

Subtitle: 'H1 Multi-function Rocket Artillery, range 280 km, circular error probable 15 meters, supports six types of smart warheads (armor-piercing, incendiary, graphite, electromagnetic pulse, thermobaric, bunker-busting).'

The video ended, and the lights came back on.

The room was silent.

An African country representative muttered, the sound carried to everyone's ears through simultaneous interpretation headsets: 'This price... can we afford it?'

Scene 2: The Disruption of Price Tags

Fahd smiled slightly, as if he heard the question.

"I know what everyone is thinking." He walked to the edge of the stage. "In the traditional arms market, only major powers can afford high-end weapons, while small and poor countries can only pick up leftovers. But today, we are going to change that rule."

The big screen displayed a price comparison table:

Weapon System | International Market Price (2018) | Spark-Arab Quote

thunderbird 3 reconnaissance drone | $1 million (US-made 'Global Hawk' simplified version $2.5 million) | Buy 10 get 1 free, includes one year of data service

wasp m2 smart attack drone (single unit) | $25,000 (Turkish 'Kargu' $50,000) | Order 100 or more, get AI formation control system free

rhino a2 heavy attack drone | $1.8 million (US-made 'Reaper' equivalent $4 million) | Customizable weapon mounts, compatible with multi-national ammunition

F1 Individual Air Defense Missile | $80,000 (US-made 'Stinger' $150,000) | Buy 100 sets get a training simulator free

H1 Multi-function Rocket Artillery (company-level system) | $3.5 million (Russian 'Smerch' simplified version $8 million) | Range 280 km, 15m error, 6 types of smart warheads available

When the prices were displayed, the room was silent at first, then erupted into buzzing discussions.

Half-price! Some were even less than half!

"Your Highness!" A Secretary of Defense from a South American country stood up directly. "Are you sure this price includes everything? Training, maintenance, ammunition?"

"Yes." Fahd nodded. "And more than that."

He switched to the next slide: "We are not arms dealers; we are security solution providers. By purchasing our weapons systems, you will receive:"

"1. Free training: We send instructor groups to your country to train operators and maintenance teams until they pass the assessment."

"2. Smart maintenance system: Every piece of equipment has IoT sensors, real-time status monitoring, fault prediction, and automatic spare parts ordering."

"3. Battlefield data cloud service: Data collected by your drones, missiles, and radars can be uploaded to our secure cloud for AI analysis to generate a battlefield situation map—of course, data sovereignty belongs entirely to you; we only provide the computing power."

"4. Ammunition subscription system: You can subscribe to ammunition packages annually; we guarantee supply, and the price drops by 5% each year."

The audience completely exploded.

This wasn't selling weapons; this was selling 'Warfare as a Service'!

"I want to order 200 wasp m2s!" an African representative shouted. "We can sign the contract now!"

"We are ordering a company of H1 rocket artillery, plus three baseloads of ammunition!"

"thunderbird 3, give us 6 first!"

Fahd smiled, watching the boiling scene below. His gaze swept over the representatives from Lockheed Martin (USA), BAE Systems (UK), and Dassault (France) sitting in the front row—the expressions on the faces of those old-school arms giants shifted from surprise to gravity to gloom.

They knew the rules of the game had been changed.

The press conference neared its end, and Fahd dropped the final bomb.

"Finally, I would like to share some financial data." He pulled up the financial report. "Spark-Arab Defense Company, fiscal year 2017, revenue $10 billion, net profit $4 billion."

The audience was shocked again. 40% net margin! In the arms industry, this was almost a myth—Lockheed Martin's net margin was 15%, Raytheon's was 10%.

"Among them, the profit attributable to Spark Technology is..." Fahd paused, waiting for everyone to hold their breath, "14 billion rmb."

Wall Street analysts would have to scramble to revise their valuation models. Spark was originally valued as a tech company, with a P/E ratio of 30. But now, it had the cash flow support of the military business—although the P/E ratio of defense stocks is low, it is stable and carries a political premium.

"But that's not all." Fahd's voice suddenly became serious. "Based on our experience in the Middle East, Africa, and South America, we have discovered a larger market: security services."

A new logo appeared on the screen: a shield in the desert, with an Arab scimitar and the Spark logo combined above it.

"Starting January 1, 2018, we will establish the 'Desert Shield' military contracting company. The first batch will recruit 3000 retired special forces soldiers—elites from China, Russia, France, South Africa, Germany, and other countries."

He zoomed in on an organizational chart: "We don't take war contracts; we take: UN-authorized peacekeeping missions, VIP protection for multinational corporations, defense of critical infrastructure, security for humanitarian aid... work that the UN can't do and private companies dare not take."

"And," Fahd smiled, "'Desert Shield' is not a traditional security company. We have our own AI command system, drone swarms, and real-time battlefield data links. One of our squads has the combat power equivalent to a traditional company."

Fahd finally said, "The press conference ends here. For those in need, please move to our conference room; our account managers will explain the performance and parameters of these equipment to you in detail."

The press conference ended.

Fahd walked out from the backstage and shook hands with Shen Nanpeng. The two looked at each other and smiled.

Outside the window, night fell over Riyadh, and the city lights were like stars.

"Your Highness, after today, we will become a target for all traditional arms dealers." Shen Nanpeng said.

"I know." Fahd looked out the window. "But this is also what we want—only by becoming a target can we prove we are worth aiming at."

He turned his head: "Shen, do you think Spark-Arab Defense Company can enter the Fortune Global 500 next year?"

Shen Nanpeng did a quick mental calculation: 5 pieces of equipment debuted this year, revenue is expected to reach $20 billion in 2018.

"Based on revenue, it's barely possible. Based on 35% profit, it can enter the top 300." He gave the answer.

"That's enough." Fahd smiled. "We want the world to know that Saudi Arabia not only has oil but also weapons and equipment that can change the rules of war."

At the same time, global news headlines were exploding:

"Spark-Saudi joint arms company, price slashed to disrupt the market!"

"The era of algorithmic warfare arrives: 'Desert Shield' redefines military contracting"

"Spark Technology profit exposed: overseas military business contributed 14 billion rmb"

And in Shenzhen, in Su Chen's office, he turned off the live stream.

Su Chen walked to the map, looking at the global layout marked on it: Shenzhen, Changchun, Riyadh, Moscow, Kuala Lumpur...

A tech-military complex spanning three continents was taking shape.

And this game had only just begun.