The Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund (PIF) has announced the creation of a new national military industries company. Saudi Arabian Military Industries (SAMI) will manufacture products and provide services across four business units: Air Systems, which includes maintenance and repair of fixedwing aircraft as well as manufacturing and repair of unmanned air vehicles; Land Systems, which includes manufacturing and repair of military vehicles; Weapons & Missiles – including ammunition – and Defense Electronics, which includes radars and sensors as well as communication systems and electronic warfare.

Wholly government-owned, SAMI aims to become one of the world’s top 25 defense companies by 2030. It will directly contribute around SAR 14 billion to the Kingdom’s GDP in 2030, invest over SAR 6 billion in research and development by 2030, and create over 40,000 jobs, many of which will be in the engineering and technical fields. By partnering with universities, SAMI will provide students with apprenticeships and careers in cutting edge technologies which were previously unavailable in the Kingdom.