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Kingdom to manufacture 70% of military hardware locally
JEDDAH: Saudi Arabia announced Tuesday its plans to produce most of the military hardware and spare parts within the Kingdom by transferring foreign technology.
“More than 70 percent of military equipment can be produced locally,” said Prince Khaled bin Sultan, assistant minister of defense and aviation.
In a statement after presiding over a meeting of the central committee for local manufacturing, Prince Khaled said a special department would be established for local manufacturing and the transfer of technology at the armed forces. He said the committee would report directly to the minister of defense and aviation.
He emphasized the government’s plan to provide greater investment opportunities for the private sector in the military manufacturing sector. “We have set out certain regulations to make sure the equipment and spare parts produced in the Kingdom are equal in quality to imported products,” he said.
Prince Khaled also stressed that locally produced military equipment should be made available at prices lower than outside the country.
He said competition between private companies should be based on equality and justice. There are a number of military industries in Alkharj near Riyadh that are run by the Ministry of Defense and Aviation.
BAE Systems announced recently its intention to establish a military aircraft assembling plant in Saudi Arabia.
“We have started training Saudis on Typhoon aircraft assembling at our plant in Warton to establish an assembly plant in the Kingdom shortly,” said Guy Griffiths, managing director international and a member of the company’s executive council.
He said BAE Systems had established large-scale projects to train Saudi manpower in defense-related industries.
Griffiths said about 58 percent of the company’s 5,000 employees are Saudi.
Saudi Arabia signed an agreement to purchase 72 Typhoon Eurofighters in September 2007. The purchase, for which BAE Systems is prime contractor, is likely to be valued up to $40 billion. The deal calls for most of the aircraft to be assembled in the Kingdom.
In March 2008, the foundation stone was laid for a new center at King Abdulaziz Air Base in the Eastern Province to upgrade and assemble military aircraft systems. The complex will include a range of hangars, stores for hazardous materials, workshops, fuel storage, a water desalination plant and a power station
http://arabnews.com/saudiarabia/article237726.ece
أعلنت المملكه العربيه السعوديه عن عزمها صناعة 70% من المعدات العسكريه وقطع الغيار التى تحتاجها داخل المملكه
وقال الأمير خالد بن سلطان
فى إجتماع للجنه المركزيه للتصنيع المحلى
انه يمكن للسعوديه الوصول إلى هذه النسبه
واللجنه ستقدم تقاريرها مباشرة إلى وزير الدفاع
وقال الامير سنعمل على إتاحة الفرصه للقطاع الخاص
وقال أن المعدات المنتجه محليآ ستكون بنفس كفأة المستورده
وبأسعار أقل وستكون هناك عداله فى المنافسه بالنسبه للقطاع الخاص
وهناك مجمع للصناعات العسكريه فى الخرج جنوب الرياض
يتم تشغليه من قبل وزارة الدفاع
وكانت BAE Systems أعلنت عن بناء مصنع للمقاتلات العسكريه فى المملكه
وقالت الشركه انها بدأت فى تدريب السعوديين فى مصانعها على تصنيع المقاتله التايفون
تمهيدآ لإنشاء المصنع السعودى
وقال ان الشركه وضعت خطط كبيره لتدريب السعوديين على الصناعات الدفاعيه
وقال أن 58% من 5000 موظف فى الشركه من السعوديين
وكانت الشركه وقعت صفقه مع السعوديه لبيعها 72 مقاتله تايفون من المرجح ان تكون تكلفة الصفقه بمشتملاتها إلى 40 مليار دولار وتنص الإتفاقيه على تجميع أغلب المقاتلات فى السعوديه
فى مارس 2008 تم وضع حجر الأساس لمركز جديد لتطوير وتجميع أنظمة الطائرات العسكريه فى قاعدة الملك عبدالعزيز بالمنطقه الشرقيه
وسيشمل المركز مجموعه من حظائر الطائرات
ومخازن المواد الخطره و ورش العمل ومخازن للوقود
ومحطه لتحلية المياه ومحطه لتوليد الكهرباء
مبروك للاخوه السعوديين على هذا التخطيط والمجهود المشرف
