Saudi Arabia plans to produce drones, establish munitions factory
RIYADH -
Saudi Arabian Military Industries plans to produce a Saudi-made drone and to establish one of the world’s biggest munitions factories, the kingdom’s state TV al-Ekhbariya reported on Sunday citing chief executive Walid Abukhaled.
Saudi Arabia plans wants to channel half of all its military spending to Saudi companies by 2030, he said, according to the TV channel.
SAMI, as the company is known, is owned by the Saudi sovereign Public Investment Fund (PIF).
Saudi Arabia’s military spending plans were set out during the second day of the World Defence Show, being held in Riyadh.
The chairman of SAMI, said during the event that the firm acquired more than $10 billion in business and deals last year, and $6 billion this year so far.
According to observers, Saudi Arabia is now hoping to build the kingdom’s human capital for defence sector research and development and move towards greater defence self-reliance.
Saudi Arabia is one of the world’s largest military spenders with its sixth largest defence budget in 2020, accounting for 2.9% of global military spending and 8.4% of Saudi’s gross domestic product (GDP).
In 2022, Riyadh announced a cut of over ten percent in its defence budget, bringing it down to $46 billion from more than $50 billion the previous year. Observers note Saudi efforts to localise defence production and the near completion of several defence deals as the reason for the budget cut.
While total self-sufficiency is not feasible, Saudi Arabia has made significant progress when it comes to its domestic defence industry. The kingdom can now manufacture and modernise military vehicles, communication and electronic systems along with unmanned systems, including drones.
Faleh al-Sulaiman, governor of the General Authority for Defence Development, said the authority will be playing its role to increase the 50 percent set target of localising defence technology.
“We’re assembling an extensive strategy to deal with that, currently in the making,” he said.
Munir Aldesouki, President of King Abdulaziz University for Science and Technology noted that “modern warfare has become a game of emerging technology.”
He added that top scientists and researchers from all over the world are joining the Saudi university to train, teach and further the research centre’s work in driving innovation ecosystem.
