The General Authority for Military Industries (Gami) has signed a contract with Saudi Arabian Military Industries (Sami) for the development and manufacture of the ‘SkyGuard’ unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). 

 

The strategic objective of this signing, lies in building a leading foundational base for technological innovation, both regionally and internationally, a Saudi Press Agency report said. 

 

Ultimately, this contributes to the overarching goal of achieving localisation of more than 50% of expenditure on defence equipment and services, by the year 2030.

 

Sami also signed an Agreement with Prince Sultan Defence Studies and Science Research Centre (PSDSARC), with the objective of further developing the UAV. 

 

SkyGuard is the outcome of numerous R&D efforts, undertaken by the Centre and geared towards developing a truly local product, which is satisfactorily compliant with the operational requirements of end Users. 

 

The signing ceremony was attended by Governor of Gami Ahmad Al-Ohali, Vice Chairman of Sami Dr Ghassan AlShibl, CEO of Sami Walid Abukhaled, and a number of key executives from the two entities.

 

Al-Ohali asserted that this signing is expected to add great value by increasing military readiness within the Saudi Arabia’s defence ecosystem, and enhancing both field responsiveness and technical support, as well as expanding high-skilled job creation for Saudi human talent. 

 

Worth noting, is that such value addition forms part of the framework for incentivising localisation in the kingdom’s defence sector, and supporting its Vision 2030 targets, adding that Saudi Arabia today is laying the foundation for transformative change in this promising sector for generations to come. 

 

"Moreover, one of the biggest drivers of this change, is the undeniable empowerment that the kingdom’s defence sector enjoys from its wise leadership," said Al-Ohali. He went on to applaud the unprecedented openness (and ease) of doing business in Saudi Arabia, which cements its place across a multitude of domains, as a prime destination for investment.

 

Abukhaled stated that the signing marks a step amongst many, in the kingdom’s aspirational and inspiring localisation journey. Abukhaled further noted the pertinence of this signing to building a robust local defence ecosystem, comprising indigenous supply chains that satisfy our strategic need to be self-sufficient.

 

Saudi Arabia draws its Vision 2030 target of localisation of defence expenditure from its core national priorities, namely military readiness, strategic autonomy, transparency and efficiency of spend, sustainability of local military industries, and interoperability within and across entities.-- TradeArabia News Service