Honeywell to help Saudi firm localize tank engine repairs
Deal is part of GAMI’s efforts to support local content and create more jobs
Saudi Arabia’s General Authority of Military Industries on Tuesday said the Middle East Propulsion Co. and Honeywell signed a deal to localize the repair and overhaul of a turbine engine used in battle tanks.
The agreement between the US-based company Honeywell and MEPC, a Saudi national company, is part of the authority’s efforts to localize more than 50 percent of the Kingdom’s military spending by 2030.
Under the deal, the technology transfer is likely to be completed by the end of 2022. It will help GAMI acquire capabilities to work on AGT1500 engines, improve operational readiness, as well as creating high-skilled jobs for Saudis.
“The signing of this agreement will contribute to the localization of the sector in the Kingdom and will accelerate business continuity, transfer of technology and knowledge, utilization and development of existing capabilities and support for local content,” GAMI’s Deputy Gov. Gasem Abdulghani Al-Maimani said.
“The repair and overhaul agreement with MEPC for the AGT1500 engines will help strengthen local capabilities in developing and maintaining the engines,” Honeywell Senior Director James Schaan said.
The Kingdom’s National Military Industries Sector Strategy aims to raise strategic independence and readiness in defense and security,
enhance cooperation between military and security entities, increase transparency, and ensure spending efficiency.
A week earlier, the authority invited local and international companies to benefit from a number of military projects.
GAMI has identified 74 investment opportunities, across six domains of the military industries sector, the authority said in a statement.
The authority also launched a digital platform called the Military Industry Marketplace local industry projects with investors that are authorized and licensed by the authority.
It announced targeted opportunities in supply chains in the military industries sector.
The number of licensed companies in Saudi Arabia’s military sector rose sharply in the first half of the year, according to GAMI data.
It reported a 41 percent increase in licensed companies to reach a total of 99 — 85 percent of them local companies. More than half (55 percent) were granted to operating companies while military services providers accounted for 24 percent and product suppliers accounting for the rest.