The Saudi Arabian Military Industries (SAMI) has signed establishment contracts of two commercial entities: French firm Thales and CMI Defense of Belgium.
The contracts were signed on the sidelines of National Industrial Development and Logistics Program (NIDLP).
The first joint program with Thales covers several fields such as short-range air defense radars, Command, and control (C2) and interconnection systems.
The localization level would be 70 percent and around 2,000 jobs will be created for the Saudi youths.
The second joint program with CMI Defense of Belgium includes providing multi-functional high-power weapons systems for light and medium armored vehicles and all related services, research and development inside the Kingdom, field support, and management of suppliers and supplies.
The Localization level would be 60 percent and more than 700 jobs will be created.
Ahmad Al-Khatib, chairman of the board of directors of SAMI, said that the two projects would contribute to attaining Saudi Vision 2030 goals, and achieving Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s announcement to localize 50 percent of military spending by 2030.
In December, SAMI inked 18 strategic deals with global, regional and local firms in sectors of technology, defense, security, research and development. These firms included Boeing, Lockheed Martin, L3 Technologies, Airbus, King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology and Prince Sultan Advanced Technology Research Institute.
