AEC was established by order of the Government of Saudi Arabia in 1988. The company operates in a range of electronics sectors and, on its website, these are categorised into Defence & Aerospace, ICT, Energy, Security and Health IT. AEC is now part of the Saudi state-owned arms conglomerate, SAMI.
The company states that “The Defense and Aerospace Sector is dedicated towards meeting the national security needs of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.”, and this covers Avionics & Electronics, Electronic Warfare, Command & Control, and Communication.
AEC’s listed “key partners and customers” include Lockheed Martin, BAE Systems, Raytheon and Northrop Grumman, and it also has a training and simulation joint venture with Thales.
In November 2017, AEC signed a cooperation agreement with Turkish company VESTEL, to “manufacture, repair and develop some military products and systems for unmanned aircrafts”.The KARAYEL drone was reported to be the subject of the agreement.
