Saudi Arabia seeks to invest more than $ 20 billion in its military industry over the next decade, as part of ambitious plans to boost domestic military spending.
The governor of the General Authority for Military Industries in Saudi Arabia said today, Saturday, at a defense conference in Abu Dhabi, that the Saudi government has set a plan to invest more than $ 10 billion in the military industry in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia over the next decade, and an equal amount on research and development.
He added that the Kingdom also plans to increase spending on military research and development from 0.2% to about 4% of spending on armaments by 2030.
Saudi Arabia is seeking to develop and manufacture more weapons and military systems locally, and aims to spend 50% of its military budget locally by 2030.
The defense budget in Saudi Arabia is about $ 70 billion, while the total number of Saudi military personnel in service is about 230,000, according to data provided by the Global Fire Power website, which specializes in military information.