The Saudi Arabian Military Industries Co. (SAMI) is a national company wholly-owned by the Public Investment Fund. It seeks to improve and support the military industries in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and enhance the self-sufficiency of the Kingdom. Its headquarters is located in the capital, Riyadh.
SAMI was established in May 2017 under the direction of Crown Prince, Prime Minister, His Royal Highness Prince Muhammad bin Salman bin Abdulaziz. Its operation began in 2018.
Tasks of SAMI
SAMI provides the main needs of the Kingdom in the military sector across five main fields: aviation and space systems, which involve the support and modernization for fixed-wing aircrafts and helicopters, the maintenance, repair and overhaul of aircraft structures, the main parts of aircrafts, engines and aircraft electronics, in addition to the manufacture of aircraft structures from metal and composite materials, as well as unmanned aircrafts, such as surveillance, reconnaissance and intelligence aircrafts, and armed drones.
In the field of defense systems, SAMI develops pioneering and advanced defense systems, and manufactures high quality defense munitions, systems and weapons for its customers inside and outside the Kingdom. These products include munitions, remote weapon systems, missile defense systems (air, land and sea), missile launcher systems, missile systems and anti-drone systems.
In the field of advanced electronics, SAMI aims to enhance the capabilities of defense electronics in the Kingdom through integrated and comprehensive technological solutions in the defense sector. This will enable the production and development of products, and the local provision of services by more than 50 percent in the defense and security sector. The products include sensors (radar and electro-optical systems), communication systems, protection and monitoring systems, electronic warfare systems, Command, Control, Communication, Computer and Intelligence (C4I) systems, as well as naval combat systems and armored vehicle mission systems.
As for land systems, SAMI aims to build and develop local capabilities across all areas of defense industries to conduct a research in advanced land systems, in addition to manufacturing, assembling, testing and maintaining land systems. Products include wheeled and tracked combat vehicles, wheeled and tracked artillery systems, tactical logistics trucks, unmanned ground vehicles, automatic remote weapon stations and turrets, in addition to integrated logistics support.
In the field of marine systems, SAMI develops integrated maritime defense capabilities that maintain the Kingdom's maritime sovereignty. Products include Hazem system, Unmanned Service Vehicles (USV), Unmanned Underwater Vehicles (UUV) and Mine Countermeasure Systems (MCM).
The Goals of SAMI
SAMI aims to become one of the world’s top twenty-five military defense companies by 2030 through cutting-edge technologies and the best national talents. Moreover, it seeks to achieve self-sufficiency in Saudi military defense industries, as the Kingdom is one of the top five countries in the world in terms of security and defense spending, while the percentage of GDP from this spending does not exceed 2 percent. SAMI aims to Saudize 50 percent of the total domestic spending on military equipment and services by 2030.
The company aims to contribute more than SAR14 billion to the GDP, raise the value of the national exports to more than SAR5 billion, provide more than forty thousand job opportunities in engineering and advanced technologies and more than thirty thousand other indirect opportunities, in addition to establishing hundreds of SMEs, and investing more than SAR6 billion in scientific research and development.
Subsidiaries of SAMI
SAMI has established several subsidiaries, including SAMI CMI Defence Systems and SAMI L3HARRIS Technologies, in addition to holding several strategic partnerships with the original manufacturing companies, such as the Aircraft Accessories and Components Company (AACC), as SAMI acquired the majority stake in the company in 2019. Another subsidiary is the SAMI Navantia Naval Industries, and its partnership with Advanced Electronics Company (AEC), which it fully acquired, thus becoming a wholly owned Saudi company in 2019.
The company has also several joint ventures, such as its project with the Lockheed Martin in February 2021 to collaborate on strengthening the defense and security capabilities of the Kingdom, and supporting its manufacturing capabilities.
Achievements of SAMI
The year 2021 witnessed a significant growth in the company's business, the most prominent of which was the completion of the Sarawat project, which involved the manufacture of five new Avante 2200 corvettes for the Royal Saudi Naval Forces. Annual revenues increased by 2,407 percent to reach SAR2.6 billion. On the other hand, cumulative contracts and orders exceeded SAR10 billion, while committing to the Saudization rate of 57.7 percent, in accordance with the requirements of the Public Authority for Military Industries. SAMI achieved revenues of SAR130 million through liquidity management, internal lending between the group's companies, and project financing.
Its employee base grew by 633 percent, and the number of its team members increased from 341 in 2020 to 2,500 male and female employees in 2022.
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