RIYADH — SAMI Navantia Naval Industries (SAMI-Navantia), a joint venture between Saudi Arabian Military Industries (SAMI) and Navantia S.A., Wednesday signed a €900 million (approximately SR3.7 billion) 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 defense ecosystem through the transfer of technology and creation of new job opportunities, in line with the Saudi Vision 2030 objective of localizing 50% of total military spending by 2030.

The agreement has the potential to boost the localization of the Kingdom's technology capabilities by up to 60% and benefit other Saudi organizations.

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

Commenting on the contract, Antonio Rodriguez-Barberan, CEO of SAMI-Navantia, said: "This new partnership agreement represents a landmark achievement for SAMI-Navantia as we embark on a historic journey with the objective of realizing Saudi Arabia's ambitions to localize the Kingdom's military and defense 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."

De Sarriá said: "Our contract with SAMI-Navantia underlines Navantia's commitment to supporting Saudi Arabia in developing its industrial capabilities in the defense 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 modeling, as well as logistical support and training programs. — PRNewswire