Riyadh: The General Authority for Defense Development (GADD) and SAMI launched today two programs to support the localization of the defense development sector in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

The two programs, valued at SAR664 million, will run for 4 years and represent the first batch of GADD’s incentives programs for the sector. They include grants provided by GADD for research in targeted areas and building special facilities to support related technology development.

Under these new programs, SAMI will form partnerships with various national development centers and Saudi universities to help design and eventually industrialize the outcomes of their defense development activities and meet military and security entities’ needs.

On this occasion, the Governor of GADD, Dr. Faleh Al-Sulaiman said, "The authority seeks to steer defense development activities in national development centers and universities toward the requirements of the defense and security end users".

Furthermore, the Governor emphasized the need for investing in national universities that hold qualified personnel to aid local defense development in the Kingdom.

Meanwhile, the Governor’s Assistant for Technology Planning at GADD, Dr. Hatim Behairy said, "This support aims to utilize national capabilities to locally develop various defense systems such as Software Defined Radio (SDR) systems and Surveillance and Reconnaissance systems for Anti-UAV Defense systems".

The CEO of SAMI, Walid Abukhaled said that this support shows the pioneering role SAMI plays in localizing the defense industry, adding that the results of these programs will bear fruit in the coming four years and that these efforts align with Saudi Vision 2030’s goal of localizing 50% of defense spending by 2030.