The forum provides a national platform for stakeholders across Saudi Arabia’s military industries ecosystem to highlight progress in localising military expenditure, supporting Saudi Vision 2030’s target of localising more than 50% of spending on military equipment and services. The event also recognised the winners of the Military Industries Localisation Excellence Award.
Our Managing Director, Steve Clutton, delivered a presentation on the role of partnerships in building sustainable defence capabilities. He outlined our contribution to developing national industrial and technical capabilities and highlighted the importance of public-private partnerships in strengthening investment, transferring knowledge and technology, developing Saudi talent, and advancing the localisation of military expenditure.
I congratulate our team at BAE Systems Arabian Industries on this well-deserved recognition, which reflects the dedication and commitment of our Saudi workforce. I would also like to extend my congratulations to His Excellency Bandar bin Ibrahim Al Khorayef and the team at the General Authority for Military Industries on the results announced today, which demonstrate tangible progress towards the Kingdom’s localisation targets. Over six decades of partnership with Saudi Arabia, investing in Saudi talent and local industry has remained at the heart of our operations, and we will continue to build on this commitmentSteve Clutton, Managing Director of BAE Systems Saudi Arabia
The award also reflects our growing presence in the Kingdom. We employ approximately 7,000 people across 11 locations in Saudi Arabia, with Saudi nationals representing 80% of our total workforce, including employees of BAE Systems Arabian Industries and International Systems Engineering (ISE).
In 2025, we consolidated our training, maintenance and supply chain management capabilities under a single Saudi company, BAE Systems Arabian Industries.
For six decades, our partnership with the Saudi Armed Forces across aviation, defence, training and technical support has underpinned our presence in the Kingdom. We continue to work closely with the General Authority for Military Industries and our local partners to support Saudi Vision 2030 and contribute to the development of a robust, sustainable and nationally driven defence industry.