SAMI’s participation in DSEI reflects Saudi Arabia’s vision for self-sufficient military industries sector

Saudi Arabian Military Industries (SAMI) has concluded its successful participation in the Defense and Security Equipment International (DSEI) exhibition held at ExCeL London from 10-13 September. Advanced Electronics Company (AEC) and SAMI Navantia Naval Industries (SAMI-Navantia), two SAMI companies, also took part in the four-day international arms fair under SAMI’s umbrella. 

Several high-level dignitaries and personalities visited SAMI’s booth at the exhibition, including H.R.H. Prince Khaled bin Bandar bin Sultan bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Saudi Ambassador to the UK, H.E. Ahmed Al-Khateeb, Chairman of SAMI, and Major General Abdullah Bin Saleh Al-Zughaibi, Saudi Military Attaché to the UK, as well as leaders and key executives of large multinational companies including Susana de Sarriá, Chairwoman of Navantia, Abdulrahman Al Bakr, Chairman of QDM, Armin Papperger, Chairman of Rheinmetall Group, Mr. Steve Wadey, CEO of QinetiQ, among others. Dr. Andreas Schwer, CEO of SAMI, officially welcomed the guests and offered a tour of the booth. 

As part of its participation, SAMI showcased its comprehensive portfolio of cutting-edge military and defense systems and solutions spanning the company’s five business divisions, namely Aeronautics, Land Systems, Naval Systems, Weapons and Missiles, and Defense Electronics. 

Dr. Andreas Schwer, CEO of SAMI, said: “At SAMI, we have reached a new milestone in our journey with our participation in DSEI alongside major players in the global defense and security supply chain. In addition to providing us with an international platform to showcase our wide-ranging line-up of innovative technologies and products, the event helped us gain insights into anticipated trends in the industry and the evolving needs of our customers. We will build on our achievements and learnings from the exhibition to further strengthen our efforts aimed at building a strong and self-sufficient military industries sector in Saudi Arabia in line with the directives of the Saudi Vision 2030.”

SAMI’s Aeronautics portfolio exhibited at DSEI included AW139 from Leonardo, F-15 from Boeing, Typhoon from BAE Systems, Blackhawk from Lockheed Martin, and the C-130 propeller Blade Model from AACC, whereas its Land Systems line-up consisted of 3000 Series Turret and CPWS from John Cockerill. The company’s wide-ranging offerings on show under the Weapons and Missiles category included Vertical Launcher (VL) MICA Launcher, VL MICA IMCP, VL MICA TOC, ASRAAM from MBDA, and R400S-MK2 from EOS. Meanwhile, the strong portfolio of Defense Electronics solutions included MX-RSTA from L3HARRIS, CheetahNav from Etion, and SOTAS M3 from Thales. 

Highlighting its commitment to localizing the Kingdom’s naval industries and stimulating the transfer of technology, SAMI-Navantia highlighted an Avante 2200 vessel model and signed a €900 million contract with the Spanish shipbuilder Navantia to collaborate on Combat System Integration on Avante 2200 vessels of the Royal Saudi Naval Forces (RSNF) during the event. 

Meanwhile, AEC showcased its diversified portfolio of Avionics, Electronics, Electronic Warfare, and C4ISR offerings. In addition, the company signed a teaming agreement with L3HARRIS Technologies to collaborate on different rotorcraft simulators within Saudi Arabia.