Saudi Arabia's defence show closes with $6.9 billion in contracting volume
The second edition of the World Defence Show in Saudi Arabia -World Defence Show- has closed its doors on 8 February with the signing of 61 major contracts amounting to 6.9 billion dollars, lower than the volume of transactions announced in 2022, which was close to 8 billion.
- The Secretary of State for Defence meets with her Saudi counterpart
- What Spanish companies are known for
The final figures provided by the show organisers show that the final number of exhibitors showing their products was 773 from 76 countries, and that 441 official delegations from 116 nations visited the show, along with more than 100,000 professionals who walked the aisles over the five days of the event.
The show's executive director, Andrew Pearcy, is "deeply satisfied" by the great interest shown by the global defence community, which, in his opinion, already considers Saudi Arabia as a "major player" in the defence industries sector.
Saudi Arabia is a major importer of defence systems and the government of Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman al-Saud "wants to change that model", says Andrew Pearcy. Saudi Defence Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman wants the second Riyadh Defence Show to "grow and support" a strategic industry, for which $71.73 billion has been budgeted for the 2024 financial year.
The Secretary of State for Defence meets with her Saudi counterpart
The exhibition and the pavilion housing Spanish industry was visited by the Secretary of State for Defence (SEDEF), Amparo Valcarce, who took advantage of her stay in Riyadh to hold a meeting with her Saudi counterpart, Khaled al-Biyari, with a view to strengthening strategic and industrial cooperation in defence matters between the two nations.
Amparo Valcarce was accompanied by the Spanish Ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Jorge Hevia; the Director General of Armaments and Material, Admiral Aniceto Rosique; the Head of the Defence Ministry's Foreign Support Office, General César Sáenz de Santa María; and the Deputy Director of Maintenance of the Navy's Logistics Support Headquarters, Rear Admiral Ricardo Álvarez Palacios.
The SEDEF stressed to the executives of the national companies that the Riyadh show is "one of the most important meeting places for Spain", underlined the importance of creating a "favourable environment" for trade and business relations between the two nations, and stressed that the presence of Spanish companies at the World Defence Show "sends a message of strength abroad, in line with the interests of the Spain Brand".
The Spanish pavilion, organised by the Spanish Association of Defence, Security, Aeronautics and Space Technology Companies TEDAE, hosted the Spanish companies Aertec, Escribano M&E, Hisdesat, Indra, Instalaza, Iraundi, Navantia, SAES, Tecnobit, Rheinmetall Expal Munitions and URO.
The technology company Indra announced during the fair that it has signed a contract with the US industrial corporation Lockheed Martin to equip the new four Multimission Surface Combat Ships (MSC) of the Royal Saudi Arabian Naval Force with an electronic defence system.
What Spanish companies are known for
The new 118-metre-long MMSCs will be equipped with advanced equipment. The Spanish company, in collaboration with the local company SAMI, will provide them with the capacity to analyse and identify radar signals in the area of operations and automatically classify the risk they represent according to their degree of threat.
The Spanish company Instalaza took advantage of the Riyadh event to present its new corporate identity on an international scale and to consolidate cooperation agreements with regional partners, with a view to developing new products to complete its family of CS90 and Alcotan-100 grenade launchers for infantry.
The Saudi Ministry of Defence has signed dozens of agreements and contracts for the purchase of products and services with a wide range of companies around the world. Among them, it has signed a contract with the Spanish company Rheinmetall Expal Munitions, the content of which has not been disclosed.
Milanion NTGS, which had its own stand independent of the national pavilion, has reached an agreement with the Brazilian company Avibras to offer projects to the Saudi Ministry of Defence and other countries in the region, including light mortars on Alakran vehicles and Astros rocket and missile systems.
The Kingdom's neighbour, the Union of United Arab Emirates, has been organising the International Defence Exhibition, IDEX, in Abu Dhabi for almost 30 years. The Saudi Arabian and Emirati exhibitions are held in alternate years and complement each other. The next edition of IDEX is scheduled to take place from 17 to 21 February 2025.
