The Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund (PIF) has today announced the creation of a new national military industries company.

Saudi Arabian Military Industries (SAMI) will manufacture products and provide services across four business units: Air Systems, which includes maintenance and repair of fixed-wing aircraft as well as manufacturing and repair of unmanned air vehicles; Land Systems, which includes manufacturing and repair of military vehicles; Weapons & Missiles, including ammunition; and Defence Electronics, which includes radars and sensors as well as communication systems and electronic warfare.

The 100% government-owned entity aims to become one of the world's top 25 defence companies by 2030. It aims to contribute around SAR 14bn (€3.4bn) to the Kingdom's GDP in 2030, invest over SAR 6bn in research and development by 2030, and create over 40,000 jobs, many of which will be in the engineering and technical fields.

By partnering with universities, SAMI will provide students with apprenticeships and careers in cutting edge technologies which were previously unavailable in the Kingdom.

In line with Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 programme, SAMI will contribute to diversifying the Saudi economy by reducing dependence on oil, while protecting and strengthening national security. One of the Vision 2030 goals is to ensure that 50 % of Saudi Arabia’s military procurement spending remains in-country, compared with 2 % now.

SAMI will seek to establish joint ventures with global original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), as well as cooperating with local military companies.