SAMI Navantia Naval Industries (SAMINavantia), a joint project between Saudi Arabian Military Industries (SAMI) and Navantia S.A., has launched its On-the-Job Training (OJT) program, on the sidelines of the First Saudi International Maritime Forum 2019 (SIM), which took place from 24-26 November in Riyadh, Under the patronage of His Royal Highness Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, Crown Prince, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense.
The first batch of the trainees includes 11 Saudi male and female engineers, who recently enrolled in the SAMINavantia OJT program, which kicked off at Navantia’s San Fernando shipyard in Cadiz, Spain.
The trainees will benefit from practical experience and training as part of the team working on the joint venture’s Avante 2200 project.
The SAMINavantia OJT program comes in line with Saudi Arabia’s ambitious vision of localizing 50% of its military equipment spending by 2030.
On 6th of November 2018, Saudi Arabian Military Industries (SAMI) and Navantia S.A. announced the launch of their joint venture, ‘SAMINavantia Naval Industries,’ following the agreement signed by both parties to design and build 5 Avante 2200 corvettes with Combat Management System for the Ministry of Defense of Saudi Arabia.
The realization of this deal came about during the visit of H.R.H. Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, Crown Prince, Vice President of the Council of Ministers, and Minister of Defense to the Spanish capital in April this year.
The signing and the official launch of the new joint venture was made by H.E. Ahmed Al-Khateeb, Chairman of SAMI, and Gonzalo Mateo-Guerrero Alcázar, Chief Operating Officer of Navantia S.A. (photo), along with officials from both entities.
With a strategic focus on building local capacities, SAMINavantia Naval Industries will focus on program management and naval combat system integration, system engineering and architecture, hardware design, and software development, testing and verification, prototyping, simulation, and modeling, in addition to the installation and integration of combat systems on the last two vessels of the Avante 2200 project, as well as the logistical support and training programs.
The launch of this project comes in line with the announcement of H.R.H. Prince Mohammed bin Salman to localize 50% of the total military spending by 2030, and the new joint venture will contribute to maintaining the readiness of the Saudi military fleet. In addition, it will create jobs and training opportunities for Saudi youth and augment the participation of Saudi nationals in the industry.
