Saudi Press Agency
The latest, advanced, Hawk T-165 jet, which was assembled and partly manufactured in the Kingdom by Saudis was inaugurated yesterday at the World Defense Show 2024 in Riyadh under the patronage of Minister of Defense Prince Khalid bin Salman bin Abdulaziz.
Some 25 local companies manufactured 3,114 parts for this aircraft, the first of its kind in the field of assembling military jet aircraft in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
The ceremony was held in the presence of the minister of defense, Commander of the Royal Saudi Air Force (RSAF) Prince Lt. Gen. Turki bin Bandar bin Abdulaziz, the Saudi British Defense Cooperation Programme (SBDCP) CEO Major General Pilot Abdullah bin Mohammed Al-Rabiah, and SBDCP Director Major General Salah al-Din bin Muhammad al-Fawaz.
The minister was briefed on SBDCP achievements so far and future initiatives, and on efforts to transfer and localize technology, which includes its launch in 2017 in cooperation with the British company BAE Systems.
He also watched a presentation of the aircraft assembly in the Kingdom; 22 advanced Hawk T-165 jet aircraft were assembled as part of the program, which also entails developing and overhauling aircraft at King Abdulaziz Air Base in the eastern sector.
The assembly of aircraft in the Kingdom forms the nucleus for the development of the Saudi defense industry, in line with the goals of Saudi Vision 2030.
Ten of Hawk T-165 jet aircraft will be granted to the Saudi Hawks team, affiliated with the Royal Saudi Air Forces (RSAF).
The visual presentation also showed the journey of the Saudi Hawks team and its achievements on the occasion of its silver jubilee.
The ceremony was also attended by Vice Minister of Defense Prince Abdulrahman bin Mohammed bin Ayyaf, Chief of the General Staff of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia General Fayyadh bin Hamed Al-Ruwaili, Governor of the General Authority for Military Industries (GAMI) Engineer Ahmad Al-Ohali, Assistant Minister of Defense Eng. Talal bin Abdullah Al-Otaibi, Assistant Minister of Defense for Executive Affairs Dr. Khalid bin Hussein Al-Biyari, Ministry of Defense Development Program CEO Dr. Samir bin Abdulaziz Al-Tabib, and Director General of the Office of the Minister of Defense Hisham bin Abdulaziz bin Saif.
