Riyadh, October 09, 2023, The General Authority for Defense Development (GADD) and the Saudi Arabian Military Industries (SAMI) have introduced two initiatives aimed at bolstering the localization of the defense development sector within the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Valued at SAR 664 million, these programs will span four years and mark the initial phase of GADD's incentives to foster sectoral growth. They encompass grants from GADD to support research in specified domains and the establishment of specialized facilities to facilitate technology development.
Within these initiatives, SAMI will forge partnerships with various national development centers and Saudi universities to collaborate on the design and subsequent industrialization of defense development projects, ultimately meeting the needs of military and security organizations.
Dr. Faleh Al-Sulaiman, the Governor of GADD, stated that the authority's objective is to align defense development efforts within national development centers and universities with the requirements of defense and security end-users. He emphasized the importance of investing in qualified personnel within national universities to bolster local defense development in the Kingdom.
Dr. Hatim Behairy, the Governor's Assistant for Technology Planning at GADD, underscored that this support aims to harness national capabilities for the local development of various defense systems, including Software Defined Radio (SDR) systems and Surveillance and Reconnaissance systems for Anti-UAV Defense systems.
Walid Abukhaled, the CEO of SAMI, highlighted the significant role played by SAMI in advancing the localization of the defense industry. He noted that the outcomes of these programs would become evident over the next four years and emphasized their alignment with the goals of Saudi Vision 2030, particularly the objective of localizing 50% of defense spending by 2030.
