Saudi Arabian Military Industries (SAMI) and Spain’s state-owned Navantia have launched a joint venture under the name SAMI Navantia Naval Industries to design and build 5 Avante 2200 corvettes with Combat Management System for the kingdom's Ministry of Defense, the official Saudi Press Agency reported on Wednesday.
The signing ceremony was held in the Saudi capital Riyadh on Tuesday, in the presence of Chairman of Saudi Military Industries Company Ahmed al-Khatib and Chief Operating Officer of Navantia Gonzalo Mateo-Guerrero Alcázar, along with officials from both parties.
“Navantia is proud of being the first company to sign a binding Joint Venture with SAMI," Alcázar said, adding that this partnership will "allow both parties to develop opportunities, both in Arabia and internationally.”
With a strategic focus on building local capacities, the joint venture will focus on program management and naval combat system integration, system engineering and architecture, hardware design, and software development, testing and verification, prototyping, simulation, and modelling, in addition to the installation and integration of combat systems on the last two vessels of the Avante 2200 project, and logistical support and training programs.
According to Saudi news agency SPA, the new project is expected to support Saudi Military Industries’ efforts to keep 50 percent of military spending within the Kingdom as per Vision 2030 by Saudization of all marine military work.
“We are very proud of His Royal Highness Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s confidence in Navantia and we are committed to partnering with Saudi Military Industries and Saudi Arabia to support their national security and technical development needs,” Alcázar stressed.
The joint venture will also contribute significantly to enhancing the readiness of the Saudi military fleet, as well as creating job opportunities and training for the Saudi youth, thus increasing the contribution of Saudi citizens to the industry.
The revenues of this military joint venture for marine military industries might reach $ 8 billion by 2030.
The agreement for the design and construction of the warships will start this autumn, with the last unit to be delivered by 2022, it was reported in July.
