Saudi forms JV with Spain’s Navantia for five warships

Saudi Arabian Military Industries (SAMI) has signed a deal with Spanish government shipbuilder Navantia to establish a joint venture for five corvette warships.

The agreement formalises discussions that began in April during Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s visit to Spain.

Read: Saudi signs $2.2bn framework deal with Spain for warships

It covers the design and construction of five Avente 2200 vessels in a programme that will start this autumn.

Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported that the joint venture is expected to create 6,000 direct and indirect jobs in the kingdom over five years and will focus on programme management, combat system integration and installation, system engineering, system architecture, hardware design, software development, testing and verification, prototyping, simulation and modelling.

“SAMI remains committed to being a key enabler of the Saudi Vision 2030, and the establishment of this joint venture with Navantia will localise more than 60 per cent of ships combat systems works including, installation, and integration, which contribute in kingdoms objective to be at the forefront of shaping the local military industries ecosystem,” said SAMI chairman Ahmed Al-Khateeb.

“We will continue to explore collaborations and leverage partnerships that meet our key mandate to localise more than half of the kingdom’s total military spending.”

Workers in the kingdom will supply the combat systems for all five ships, while the fourth and fifth vessels will be finalised and delivered in the kingdom, according to the announcement.

Navantia chairman Esteban García Vilasánchez said the deal would develop Saudi’s shipbuilding capabilities and the two sides would “jointly explore future opportunities”.

The joint venture will contribute to increasing the capabilities of the navy to meet potential threats and maintain the readiness of the Royal Saudi Arabian Navy fleet, Saudi Press Agency said.

The last vessel will be delivered by 2022.

SAMI was formed in May 2017 by sovereign fund the Public Investment Fund to boost the kingdom’s domestic defence industry. It aims to contribute $3.7bn to GDP by 2030.

Read: Saudi state-owned defence company SAMI appoints new CEO