Saudi Arabia Military Industries was created in May 2017 by the Saudi authorities. It is one of the major planks of Saudi Arabia’s initiative to develop a domestic military manufacturing industry by 2030, as part of the “Vision 2030” plan for industrial growth, which aims to localize 50% of Saudi Arabia’s military spending by 2030.
The company’s website promotes five Business Divisions: Aerospace, Defense Systems, Advanced Electronics, Land, and Sea. It had over 3,000 employees in 2021, and revenues of 2.6 billion Saudi Riyals (about $690 million), which it described as an increase of 2,407% on the previous year.
SAMI has signed memoranda of understanding with Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Raytheon and General Dynamics, as well as with Russian state-owned arms exporter Rosoboronexport for weaponry including S-400 surface-to-air missile systems. According to the SAMI website, it also has joint ventures with Navantia (Spain), L3Harris (USA), John Cockerill Defense (Belgium), Thales (France), and FIGEAC Aero Group (France).
