SAMI Navantia Naval Industries (SAMI-Navantia), a joint venture between Saudi Arabian Military Industries (SAMI) and Navantia, yesterday signed a €900 million ($991.14 million) contract with the Spanish shipbuilder Navantia to collaborate on Combat System Integration (CSI) on the Avante 2200 corvettes for the Royal Saudi Naval Forces (RSNF).

The contract will contribute to the development of Saudi Arabia’s defence ecosystem through the transfer of technology and creation of new job opportunities, in line with the Saudi Vision 2030 objective of localising 50 per cent of total military spending by 2030.

The agreement has the potential to boost the localisation of the kingdom’s technology capabilities by up to 60 per cent and benefit other Saudi organisations.

The contract was signed at SAMI’s booth in the Defense and Security Equipment International (DSEI) 2019 exhibition, taking place at ExCeL in London, UK, in the presence of Ahmed Al-Khateeb, chairman of SAMI; Susana de Sarriá, chairwoman of Navantia; Dr. Andreas Schwer, CEO of SAMI; Antonio Rodriguez-Barberan, CEO of SAMI-Navantia, as well as other officials from both sides.

Antonio Rodriguez-Barberan said: “This new partnership agreement represents a landmark achievement for SAMI-Navantia as we embark on a historic journey with the objective of realising Saudi Arabia’s ambitions to localise the kingdom’s military and defence industries.”

“This creates an excellent opportunity to capitalize on our strategic partner’s extensive experience in the design, construction, and integration of warships to build our own capabilities in the domain,” he said.

Susana de Sarriá said: “Our contract with SAMI-Navantia underlines Navantia's commitment to supporting Saudi Arabia in developing its industrial capabilities in the defence sector. This will provide a strong foundation for long-term, mutually beneficial cooperation between SAMI and Navantia.”

In addition to CSI, the new agreement between SAMI-Navantia and Navantia will focus on system engineering and architecture, hardware design, software ?development, testing and verification, prototyping, simulation, and modelling, as well as logistical support and training programmes, it added. – TradeArabia News Service