Saudi Arabia signs deal with Korean group to explore JV possibility

Saudi Arabian Military Industries (SAMI) signed an agreement with Korea’s Hanwha Group’s affiliates, namely Hanwha Corporation, Hanwha Defense Co. Ltd., and Hanwha Systems Co. Ltd., to explore establishing a joint venture in the Kingdom.

The limited liability company will tentatively be named SAMI-Hanwha Munition Systems, and will be based in Riyadh, Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported.

The firm will initially focus on manufacturing and selling munitions in Saudi Arabia, SAMI said in a statement, adding that later on it will evaluate the project’s technical capacity.

The following stages will entail expanding the production lines to include ammunition and weapons, missiles, artillery systems, combat vehicles, defense systems and naval systems.

It will also include command, control, communications, computers and intelligence (C4I) systems, as well as the intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) systems.