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Visit of the Crown Prince to the US on March 19 2018 .. Financial Times reveal the Kingdom's plans for the localisation of military industries..
The establishment of weapons industries within the Kingdom is not just a dream that the country is seeking to achieve, but has become a reality, after Riyadh has already started a plan to manufacture aircraft parts, in preparation for the completion of the process fully in the next few years, Which comes as a vital part of the vision of 2030 launched by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman over the past years.
Munir Bakhsh, who leads an air navigation unit, that has recently been modernised with more than $ 44 million, is working on a project to manufacture aircraft spare parts and assemble Blackhawk helicopters in the Kingdom, in cooperation with Lockheed Martin, A major company with a long history of military and defense contracts.
Bakhsh, who worked for more than two decades as an engineer in international companies such as Boeing and Gulf-stream, was tasked with his colleagues with part of a mission to create a local defense industry in the kingdom, plans that seem to be relevant to Mohammed bin Salman's ambitions and goals for the country's future.
The visit of the Crown Prince to Washington, in the next few days, will bring more cooperation between the Kingdom and the United States clearly, especially with regard to the manufacture of weapons and the[URL='https://www.ft.com/content/88427260-2765-11e8-b27e-cc62a39d57a0'] localisation of some equipment inside Saudi Arabia, pointing out that the global arms manufacturers are now aware that they are asked to assist in the localisation of military industries in the Kingdom.. if they wants to continue to cooperate with Riyadh on the level of arms deals.
Companies such as BAA Systems have been expanding training and manufacturing activities in the kingdom for over a decade, employing 6,000 people, a third of them Saudis, as well as assembling Hawk aircrafts in Saudi Arabia and doing some work on Typhoon fighter jets.
Saudi Arabia and the United Kingdom signed last week a five-billion-pound memorandum of intent for the purchase of 48 Typhoon fighter jets, a deal that has been under discussion since 2014.
"Difficult negotiations on raw materials and services to be obtained domestically have contributed to the delay in reaching an agreement," said one person familiar with the issue.
"Moving work from Europe or from the United States to the Kingdom is complicated and costly," said Khalid Al Otaibi, Vice President of Manufacturing at the British company in Saudi Arabia. "The company was forced to ensure that local contractors met international standards and needed to train Saudi workers for appropriate skills to do the job ".
"Without a doubt, the country has benefited from the purchase of arms and the building of strong armed forces, but when it comes to industrialization and localisation, there were many deficiencies and shortcomings," he said.
"They were very clear that they wanted to grow rapidly, and we fully support the goals of Vision 2030, but you will not go from 2 percent [of domestic spending] to 50 percent within a few years," said Rick Edwards, executive vice president of Lockheed Martin International. It is a long process, and it must be done in a way that manages risks. "
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https://www.ft.com/content/88427260-2765-11e8-b27e-cc62a39d57a0
