Saudi Arabia's focus on promoting local expertise in emerging defence sectors such as space warfare and drones has been on display at the World Defence Show 2024 in Riyadh.
The five-day exhibition, being held for the second time after the inaugural event in 2022, opened on Monday with everything from stealth cruise missiles to armoured cars and models of weapon systems, missile launchers and fighter bombers packed into an 800,000-square metre venue north of the capital.
The kingdom's General Authority for Military Industries (Gami) has so far signed 11 co-operation agreements with leading international firms with a focus on the “localisation” of Saudi defence production, according to the authority's governor, Ahmad Al Ohali.
A large part of Saudi Arabia's efforts to develop a home-grown defence industry has been the nurturing of local talent.
“If you look at all these defence systems, including in space, it starts with academics, universities and specialised technology institutes,” said retired Brigadier General Abdullah Alajmi, the director of business development at Lockheed Martin Space in Saudi Arabia. “So for the defence sector, we have several educational institutes and universities that are doing a lot of great work on technology development.
“The kingdom established the General Authority for Defence Development; they are responsible for all the research and development for military sector programmes for the kingdom,” Brig Gen Alajmi told a panel on the space domain of warfare.
“The kingdom is looking seriously at technology transfer and training now and all the space programmes are looking for localisation as a major requirement.”
The Saudi Arabian Military Industries (Sami), created in 2017, has set a target of 50 per cent of defence spending going to domestic producers by 2030, as part of the kingdom’s ambitious Vision 2030 plan to diversify the economy.
Boeing, the US aerospace giant, already has co-operation agreements with Sami and Gami, having supplied around 400 aircraft to Saudi Arabia, notably the F-15 Eagle, the backbone of the Royal Saudi Air Force.
Agreements have also been announced during the show with Leonardo of Italy, one of the world’s largest defence companies that is not American, Chinese or British.
Aside from producing fixed-wing aircraft including the Alenia C-27J Spartan cargo plane and the M-346 trainer fighter jet, Leonardo has also worked on the F-35 stealth fighter and is developing tilt-rotor aircraft that can take off vertically like helicopters.
More spending, more players
Saudi Arabia has set aside 269 billion riyals ($72 billion) for military expenditure this year, up from 259 billion riyals last year.
The kingdom accounts for around 20 per cent of US defence companies' overseas sales. The five biggest US companies in the sector – Boeing, Raytheon, Lockheed Martin, General Dynamics and Northrup Gruman – have a combined market capitalisation of about half a trillion dollars.
Unsurprisingly, the US has a significant presence at the World Defence Show, although one of the current symbols of its military capability – the Himars missile launcher – was parked away from the ranks of armoured vehicles on display.
Capable of propelling missiles up 300 kilometres with an accuracy of within five metres, Himars has performed with lethal effect in Ukraine, which has received around 20 to 30 of the roughly 400 systems in the US inventory to support its fight against Russia's invasion.
China, with two of the world’s largest arms manufacturers, Aviation Industry Corporation of China and China North Industries, also has a notable presence at the exhibition as regional powers seek to diversify their sources of military hardware in a rapidly changing geopolitical landscape.
Defence spending has surged globally, rising over $2 trillion for the first time in 2022 and remaining around that level in 2023, driven by the conflict in Ukraine, which has seen Europe begin an ambitious rearmament programme and Russian defence spending top $85 billion.
Tensions in the Asia-Pacific region are also high, with China, Taiwan and India breaking defence spending records last year, while the US defence budget this year is a record $886 billion.
The Riyadh show highlighted that a number of emerging defence powerhouses are seeking to tap this market, dominated so far by a handful of countries such as China, Russia, the US and UK.
South Korea, which has recently exported its formidable K2 Black Panther tanks and K9 self-propelled howitzers to Poland – up to 1,000 of the armoured vehicles – had a strong presence at the exhibition.
The UAE’s Edge, formed in 2019 to develop high-tech “sovereign capabilities for global export”, is marketing its eye-catching HT-100 and HT-750 unmanned helicopters.
Turkey’s Baykar drone company is showing its new Bayraktar TB3 aircraft carrier-compatible drone, while Ankara may export a version of its TCG Anadolu helicopter carrier, built by Sedef Shipping, that carries a complement of UAVs
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Global state-owned investor ranking by size
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China
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UAE
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Japan
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Norway
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Canada
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Venom
Director: Ruben Fleischer
Cast: Tom Hardy, Michelle Williams, Riz Ahmed
Rating: 1.5/5
The specs: 2018 Chevrolet Trailblazer
Price, base / as tested Dh99,000 / Dh132,000
Engine 3.6L V6
Transmission: Six-speed automatic
Power 275hp @ 6,000rpm
Torque 350Nm @ 3,700rpm
Fuel economy combined 12.2L / 100km
Children who witnessed blood bath want to help others
Aged just 11, Khulood Al Najjar’s daughter, Nora, bravely attempted to fight off Philip Spence. Her finger was injured when she put her hand in between the claw hammer and her mother’s head.
As a vital witness, she was forced to relive the ordeal by police who needed to identify the attacker and ensure he was found guilty.
Now aged 16, Nora has decided she wants to dedicate her career to helping other victims of crime.
“It was very horrible for her. She saw her mum, dying, just next to her eyes. But now she just wants to go forward,” said Khulood, speaking about how her eldest daughter was dealing with the trauma of the incident five years ago. “She is saying, 'mama, I want to be a lawyer, I want to help people achieve justice'.”
Khulood’s youngest daughter, Fatima, was seven at the time of the attack and attempted to help paramedics responding to the incident.
“Now she wants to be a maxillofacial doctor,” Khulood said. “She said to me ‘it is because a maxillofacial doctor returned your face, mama’. Now she wants to help people see themselves in the mirror again.”
Khulood’s son, Saeed, was nine in 2014 and slept through the attack. While he did not witness the trauma, this made it more difficult for him to understand what had happened. He has ambitions to become an engineer.
At Eternity’s Gate
Director: Julian Schnabel
Starring: Willem Dafoe, Oscar Isaacs, Mads Mikkelsen
Three stars
Who has been sanctioned?
Daniella Weiss and Nachala
Described as 'the grandmother of the settler movement', she has encouraged the expansion of settlements for decades. The 79 year old leads radical settler movement Nachala, whose aim is for Israel to annex Gaza and the occupied West Bank, where it helps settlers built outposts.
Harel Libi & Libi Construction and Infrastructure
Libi has been involved in threatening and perpetuating acts of aggression and violence against Palestinians. His firm has provided logistical and financial support for the establishment of illegal outposts.
Zohar Sabah
Runs a settler outpost named Zohar’s Farm and has previously faced charges of violence against Palestinians. He was indicted by Israel’s State Attorney’s Office in September for allegedly participating in a violent attack against Palestinians and activists in the West Bank village of Muarrajat.
Coco’s Farm and Neria’s Farm
These are illegal outposts in the West Bank, which are at the vanguard of the settler movement. According to the UK, they are associated with people who have been involved in enabling, inciting, promoting or providing support for activities that amount to “serious abuse”.
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The%20specs
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MATCH INFO
Europa League final
Marseille 0
Atletico Madrid 3
Greizmann (21', 49'), Gabi (89')
Traces%20of%20Enayat
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THREE
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Company%20Profile
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EName%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Ovasave%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20November%202022%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounders%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Majd%20Abu%20Zant%20and%20Torkia%20Mahloul%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Abu%20Dhabi%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ESector%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Healthtech%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ENumber%20of%20staff%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Three%20employees%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestment%20stage%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Pre-seed%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestment%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20%24400%2C000%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
FIXTURES (all times UAE)
Sunday
Brescia v Lazio (3.30pm)
SPAL v Verona (6pm)
Genoa v Sassuolo (9pm)
AS Roma v Torino (11.45pm)
Monday
Bologna v Fiorentina (3.30pm)
AC Milan v Sampdoria (6pm)
Juventus v Cagliari (6pm)
Atalanta v Parma (6pm)
Lecce v Udinese (9pm)
Napoli v Inter Milan (11.45pm)
Visit Abu Dhabi culinary team's top Emirati restaurants in Abu Dhabi
Yadoo’s House Restaurant & Cafe
For the karak and Yoodo's house platter with includes eggs, balaleet, khamir and chebab bread.
Golden Dallah
For the cappuccino, luqaimat and aseeda.
Al Mrzab Restaurant
For the shrimp murabian and Kuwaiti options including Kuwaiti machboos with kebab and spicy sauce.
Al Derwaza
For the fish hubul, regag bread, biryani and special seafood soup.
US PGA Championship in numbers
1 Joost Luiten produced a memorable hole in one at the par-three fourth in the first round.
2 To date, the only two players to win the PGA Championship after winning the week before are Rory McIlroy (2014 WGC-Bridgestone Invitational) and Tiger Woods (2007, WGC-Bridgestone Invitational). Hideki Matsuyama or Chris Stroud could have made it three.
3 Number of seasons without a major for McIlroy, who finished in a tie for 22nd.
4 Louis Oosthuizen has now finished second in all four of the game's major championships.
5 In the fifth hole of the final round, McIlroy holed his longest putt of the week - from 16ft 8in - for birdie.
6 For the sixth successive year, play was disrupted by bad weather with a delay of one hour and 43 minutes on Friday.
7 Seven under par (64) was the best round of the week, shot by Matsuyama and Francesco Molinari on Day 2.
8 Number of shots taken by Jason Day on the 18th hole in round three after a risky recovery shot backfired.
9 Jon Rahm's age in months the last time Phil Mickelson missed the cut in the US PGA, in 1995.
10 Jimmy Walker's opening round as defending champion was a 10-over-par 81.
11 The par-four 11th coincidentally ranked as the 11th hardest hole overall with a scoring average of 4.192.
12 Paul Casey was a combined 12 under par for his first round in this year's majors.
13 The average world ranking of the last 13 PGA winners before this week was 25. Kevin Kisner began the week ranked 25th.
14 The world ranking of Justin Thomas before his victory.
15 Of the top 15 players after 54 holes, only Oosthuizen had previously won a major.
16 The par-four 16th marks the start of Quail Hollow's so-called "Green Mile" of finishing holes, some of the toughest in golf.
17 The first round scoring average of the last 17 major champions was 67.2. Kisner and Thorbjorn Olesen shot 67 on day one at Quail Hollow.
18 For the first time in 18 majors, the eventual winner was over par after round one (Thomas shot 73).
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Global Fungi Facts
• Scientists estimate there could be as many as 3 million fungal species globally
• Only about 160,000 have been officially described leaving around 90% undiscovered
• Fungi account for roughly 90% of Earth's unknown biodiversity
• Forest fungi help tackle climate change, absorbing up to 36% of global fossil fuel emissions annually and storing around 5 billion tonnes of carbon in the planet's topsoil
More from Neighbourhood Watch:
Price, base / as tested From Dh173,775 (base model)
Engine 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo, AWD
Power 249hp at 5,500rpm
Torque 365Nm at 1,300-4,500rpm
Gearbox Nine-speed auto
Fuel economy, combined 7.9L/100km
