Pak Sahafat – The localization of the Saudi military industry is the biggest lie of “Mohammed bin Salman”, the crown prince of Saudi Arabia, because five years after its beginning, it has not achieved much due to the lack of meritocracy and the necessary scientific ability, and it has only remained at the level of propaganda work.
According to Pak Sahafat News Agency’s report, quoting from the “Saudi Leaks” news website, after more than 5 years have passed since the announcement of the localization of Saudi military industries by the crown prince of this country, observers say that none of these ambitious plans of Bin Salman have been implemented in this field and another one of his false promises and illusions.
The General Directorate of Saudi Military Industries was established in August 2017 in line with the Saudi Crown Prince’s Vision 2030 plans, and Bin Salman announced that its goal is to localize 50% of the military industry sector in Saudi Arabia.
As usual, bin Salman assumed the headship of the General Directorate of Military Industries of Saudi Arabia and chose his brother as his deputy. The administrative council of this general department has 12 members, half of whom are not experts, including “Ahmed al-Khatib”, the minister of tourism (former head of the Saudi tourism and entertainment board) and “Abdullah Al-Eisa”, the deputy head of the National Security Organization. Al-Khatib is a graduate of business management and El-Eisa has a bachelor’s degree in judicial affairs.
It is worth noting that none of the managers and members of the General Directorate of Military Industries have the opportunity to perform such a mission because they are in charge of other government posts. For example, Bin Salman himself is in charge of more than 35 positions and Ahmad al-Khatib has 15 positions and the rest of them also have many positions. Here the question is raised, how can they have the opportunity to follow the affairs of the General Department of Military Industries and advance its work?
By following the website and the official personal account of this General Directorate in the Twitter social network, it can be seen that military exhibitions, conferences, meetings and trips are the major part of its activities.
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The most prominent event of this general administration is holding the international defense exhibition in March 2022, which is not considered one of its main and essential activities in the advancement of military industries.
After several years of work and spending billions of dollars, the General Directorate of Military Industries presented its most outstanding achievement after 5 years since the introduction of Bin Salman’s 2030 vision plan, the main part of which is the meeting, seminar and activities and the establishment of the exhibition and the beginning of paper projects and the promise of its implementation in the absence of practical and real achievements.
What the General Directorate of Military Industries of Saudi Arabia mentioned as the achievement of its 5 years, were only military production projects, most of which did not enter the production line and serve in the Saudi Armed Forces, the most prominent of which are: 1- Starting the UAV manufacturing industry 2- Localizing the fast boat manufacturing industry (Avatw-2200) 3- Launching the surface-to-air guided munitions manufacturing industry 4- Manufacturing the electro-optical monitoring system “Zarqa Elimameh-Zali” 5- Manufacturing special vehicles Identifying and supporting “Al-Dahna” 6 – Agreeing to the localization plan of the air defense system 7 – Production of radio software programs 8 – Production of own clothing and helmets and divers’ equipment.
Despite the weakness of these achievements compared to the costs and time taken for them, the question is whether what was made was used in the battle scenes or was it just a publicity stunt? Do the Saudi military use “Zarqa Al-Imamah-Zali” for monitoring and surveillance or “Al-Dahna” reconnaissance and support vehicle, and do they wear clothes produced by domestic industries?
For example, the “Al-Dahna” car was exhibited for the first time in the Saudi pavilion at the international defense exhibition in Abu Dhabi “IDX 2019”. An official in the Saudi armored and heavy equipment manufacturing industry said that the first series of this vehicle will be delivered to Saudi security units during the first half of 2021, but no news of the vehicle’s production was announced after that.
Another example of the Saudi government’s propaganda measures was about the construction of drones. In line with the propaganda measures of the Saudi government, Riyadh announced the construction of Saqr, Saqr 1, Saqr 2, Skyward, Luna, Noors, Seeker 400, Aqab 1, Aqab 2 and Space Guard UAVs, but only a small part of them were built and actually did notentered service and Saudi Arabia still uses imported drones.
Although 5 years have passed since the plan to localize military industries in Saudi Arabia, it seems that no significant achievements have been seen, and in fact, the achievements and plans are mostly propaganda. The reason for this problem is the lack of experts and freedom of action in the General Directorate of Saudi Military Industries, because half of its administrative council is made up of non-experts, and most importantly, bin Salman is the head of the Administrative Council of the General Directorate of Saudi Military Industries.