SAMI Navantia Naval Industries, a joint venture between Saudi Arabian Military Industries (SAMI) and Spanish shipbuilder Navantia, has signed a SR3.7 billion ($990 million) contract as part of plans to localise military spending in the Gulf kingdom.
The deal has been agreed to collaborate on combat system integration (CSI) on the Avante 2200 corvettes for the Royal Saudi Naval Forces (RSNF).
The contract will contribute to the development of Saudi Arabia’s defence ecosystem through the transfer of technology and creation of new job opportunities, in line with the Saudi Vision 2030 objective of localising 50 percent of total military spending by 2030.
The contract was signed on the sidelines of the Defence and Security Equipment International (DSEI) 2019 exhibition, taking place at ExCeL in London.
Antonio Rodriguez-Barberan, CEO of SAMI-Navantia, said: “This creates an excellent opportunity to capitalise on our strategic partner’s extensive experience in the design, construction, and integration of warships to build our own capabilities in the domain.”
Susana de Sarriá, chairwoman of Navantia, added: “Our contract with SAMI-Navantia underlines Navantia’s commitment to supporting Saudi Arabia in developing its industrial capabilities in the defence sector. This will provide a strong foundation for long-term, mutually beneficial cooperation between SAMI and Navantia.”
In addition to CSI, the new agreement between SAMI-Navantia and Navantia will focus on system engineering and architecture, hardware design, software development, testing and verification, prototyping, simulation, and modeling, as well as logistical support and training programs.
Launched in May 2017, SAMI aims to be among the top 25 military industries companies in the world by 2030.
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