Saudi Arabia has begun efforts to acquire a new range of 4×4 vehicles for use by multiple government organisations in a significant procurement programme.
Speaking to Jane’s , SAMI CEO Andreas Schwer said that “by the end of the year, we will have selected a partner for the 4×4 vehicle and the future demands of Saudi Arabia, covering all the potential user groups such as the Ministry of Defence, Ministry of the Interior, [Saudi Arabian] National Guard, and other special services”.
The procurement programme will also cover other user groups, such as the country’s critical national infrastructure security force.
South Africa’s Denel was invited to test the RG-31 as part of Saudi Arabia’s summer trials for the potential procurement. (IHS Markit/Patrick Allen)
SAMI is to act as the system integrator for the new platform, with the Saudi government also working to get the wider supply chain ecosystem into the country.
“We will try to get the supply chain for the major subsystems into the country because of the economies of scale,” Schwer said, adding that the supply chain should be able to come with the OEM to avoid having to requalify the product.
“We expect the OEM to bring their supply chain with them, and they will then form partnerships with other Saudi companies or private investors to complement our activity. This should be formed on more system-level work,” Schwer said.
While the competitors for the programme are unknown, South Africa’s Denel revealed in its 2018/19 Annual Report on 4 October that it had been invited to demonstrate the RG31 for a 1,000+ vehicle requirement, among a field of “five or six vehicles”.
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