His Royal Highness Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, the Crown Prince, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, launched Sunday the first Hawk jet training aircraft, which was assembled and some of its parts were manufactured locally by Saudi citizens.

The event took place at King Abdulaziz Air Base in the Eastern Sector, the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported.

Upon arrival, Prince Mohammed was briefed on the stages of assembling and manufacturing the main parts of the Hawk by Saudi youth, the tests on the plane after the assembly, the test of acceptance of the aircraft after flight, as well as an explanation of the initiatives of the Saudi-British program of the transfer and localization of technology as more than 70% of Saudi youth are working on assembly of 22 Hawk aircraft after more than two years of training at the hands of international expertise.

His Royal Highness the Crown Prince witnessed the launch ceremony, which included a video presentation on the stages of assembling the aircraft.

Then he launched and unveiled the plane and signed at the front of the plane. Pictures of HRH the Crown Prince and crew were taken.

Then the Crown Prince went to the plane’s launch platform, where the captain of the plane received from His Royal Highness the Crown Prince via the radio permission to take off.

“In the name of Allah, and on the blessing of Allah, fly above the most precious land,” Prince Mohammed said.

The Saudi-British Defense Cooperation Program, in collaboration with BAE Systems (BAE Systems), oversaw the training of Saudi youth with the participation of more than 25 national companies.

His Royal Highness the Crown Prince was accompanied during the event by a number of Princes and Officials.