Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense, unveiled on Sunday the first locally-assembled Hawk training aircraft, reported the Saudi Press Agency.
Some parts of the aircraft were also manufactured in the Kingdom.
Upon his arrival at the King Abdulaziz Air Base in the Eastern Sector, Prince Mohammed was briefed on the stages of assembling and manufacturing the main parts of the Hawk.
He was also briefed on the initiatives of the Saudi-British program on the transfer and localization of technology.
More than 70 percent of Saudi youth are working on assembling 22 Hawk aircraft after receiving more than two years of training by international experts.
The Crown Prince witnessed the launch ceremony, which included a video presentation on the stages of assembling the aircraft.
The Saudi-British Defense Cooperation Program, in collaboration with BAE Systems, oversaw the training of Saudi youth with the participation of more than 25 national companies.
Also at the King Abdulaziz Air Base, the Crown Prince laid the foundation stone for the establishment of the Air War Center.
The Center will contribute to the development and modernization of combat plans against potential threats, developing and evaluating air force capabilities, standardizing combat concepts and testing and evaluating systems and weapons.
The Air War Center will support the combat readiness of the Air Force, carry out joint and mixed exercises with brotherly and friendly countries, as well as training in an advanced electronic warfare environment, to use and evaluate effective combat tactics.
