As the An-225 transport plane's cargo door fully opened, group after group of Russian soldiers drove missile transport vehicles and forklifts from the other end of the platform.
Irkutsk Airport is a dual-use military and civilian airport, which allows the military to transport ammunition, artillery, and other heavy weapons. So, the scene unfolding before him completely captivated the Saudi Prince.
Container after container of missiles were forked out of the transport plane – a full 10 containers. If you knew what was happening, you'd know it was an arms shipment. If you didn't, you might think some kind of trade was going on.
While the missiles were being unloaded, Mavi naturally went to meet his wealthy client and get acquainted. After all, this was the super-rich buyer who had previously bought China's Dongfeng-3 medium-range ballistic missiles.
According to rumors, they spent a whopping 3.5 billion US dollars to buy 35 Dongfeng-3 medium-range ballistic missiles. This was back in 1986, when China's total foreign exchange reserves were only 2.03 billion US dollars. You can see just how rich Saudi Arabia was.
The Dongfeng-3 transaction was the only successful medium-range missile deal in the world. At that time, China hadn't yet signed the Missile Technology Control Regime, so the Americans couldn't really do anything about it, even if they wanted to.
According to rumors, a major reason the Dongfeng-3 medium-range ballistic missile sold for such a high price was that very few countries possessed medium-range missiles, and all of them had transaction restrictions, making them impossible to buy even if you wanted to.
Another main reason was reportedly because the translator, during the negotiation, was so nervous that he translated "100 million Renminbi" as just "100 million," without specifying the currency.
When the Saudi royal family heard this, they subconsciously assumed it was a US dollar transaction. So, they happily agreed in the end to pay 100 million US dollars per Dongfeng-3, buying 35 of them all at once and paying the full amount upfront, no installment plans.
...
"Haha! Hello, Mr. Mavi. I've heard your name mentioned in the Middle East for a while now. Meeting you today is truly remarkable," the Saudi Prince said with a laugh, extending his hand to shake Mavi's. Even the well-traveled prince gave him considerable respect upon seeing Mavi's setup.
"Hello, Your Highness, welcome to Russia," Mavi replied, treating the prince from the wealthy nation with courtesy. This country, besides being incredibly rich, was also particularly fond of buying military hardware, so he definitely wanted to develop them into a long-term client.
"Mr. Mavi, are these containers carrying your Russian Scud missiles and self-propelled rocket launchers?" The Saudi Prince was also a military enthusiast. Although he wasn't sure exactly what was in Mavi's containers, his keen intuition told him it was definitely military hardware.
At this, Mavi smiled, clapped his hands, and gestured to his subordinates, "Open the containers and let His Highness take a look at the goods."
As he spoke, the 10 nearby containers were sequentially opened from the side by the transport personnel (these containers were custom-made and could be opened from the side).
Half a minute later, with all the containers open, the Saudi Prince was surprised to see that besides boxes of Russian Scud missiles and self-propelled rocket launchers, there were also several drone-like flying devices.
Looking at the sheer number of missiles and rocket launchers, enough to rival an armory, the Saudi Prince clicked his tongue in amazement and clapped his hands with a smile, "Mr. Mavi, you truly live up to your reputation as one of Russia's biggest arms dealers, carrying so many missiles and weapons with you. By the way, what are these drones in the boxes for? Are they related to this transaction?"
"You'll find out later, Your Highness. However, these Scud missiles and self-propelled rocket launchers you see are for the military exercise later, consider them samples. They are not part of the transaction," Mavi said, a faint smile on his face.
Due to the An-225 transport plane's maximum payload of just over 300 tons, and a single Scud missile weighing around 6 tons, the ammunition Mavi brought could only be considered samples for a major arms dealer like him who owns 2300 missiles. It wasn't even close to an armory scale.
However, in the Saudi Prince's eyes, these dozens of missiles, plus over a hundred 300mm rockets, were already a very large quantity. After all, the Saudi Arabian army often engaged in battles with enemy forces for 6 hours, only ending up with a total of 4 casualties on both sides – fewer casualties than a street shootout in the US...
"These... are all just samples? All meant to be fired?" The Saudi Prince looked surprised again upon hearing this.
If a single Scud missile is priced at $1 million US dollars, then fifteen missiles would be $15 million. Adding 160 rounds of self-propelled rocket artillery, the total price would be at least close to $40 million US dollars! The key is that these are just samples for the transaction, used for military exercises... basically, they're all going to be fired just to put on a show and make some noise.
It must be said that different positions lead to different perspectives. Saudi Arabia cannot develop weapons, so they buy their missiles, meaning the cost equals the selling price. But Mavi is an arms dealer. The wholesale price of a Scud missile is $120,000 US dollars per round. At most, these 10 containers of missiles only cost a little over $4 million US dollars. Throwing them away to make some noise is just throwing them away, no need to feel bad at all.
"Yes, Your Highness, that's the most direct way to understand the power of the missiles, isn't it?" Mavi said with a light chuckle. In the oil and energy sector, Saudi Arabia is definitely much more powerful than him. But in the arms sector, when Mavi decides to "go big," he can be incredibly extravagant! $40 million worth of military hardware, used like fireworks.
Hearing this, the Saudi Crown Prince standing in front of him couldn't help but join in the laughter, "Haha, you make a lot of sense, Mr. Mavi. That way, we can understand the power more directly, haha..."
People of the Saudi Prince's caliber only show respect to those who also possess strength. Clearly, Mavi's casual display immediately earned him the Saudi Crown Prince's favor. He saw Mavi as a very capable "Russian arms mogul."
"Shall we head out then, Your Highness? The army base is waiting," Mavi said with a smile at the airport. In this life, he was truly impressive, able to chat and laugh with the Saudi Crown Prince and even subtly show off in front of him.
This kind of scene, even most people rarely dream of... So Mavi knew that everything he was experiencing was likely not a hallucination in his dying moments, nor a dream produced by brain activity from being in a vegetative state.
"Alright, Mr. Mavi, I shall humbly accept your lead."
(End of this chapter)