Saudi’s first-ever World Defence Show ready for launch

The event will take place in Riyad 6-9 March 2022.

Founded by the General Authority for Military Industries (GAMI), World Defense Show will kick off the first day with a spectacular opening ceremony featuring live demonstrations of interoperable defence capabilities across all key domains. High-level representatives from hundreds of industry giants will be coming to the Kingdom, with those taking substantial space across the 800,000 square metre venue including international partners Lockheed Martin, Boeing, General Dynamics, Navantia, BAE Systems, L3 Harris and Norinco. They will join more than 450 firms from around 37 countries demonstrating the latest technologies from air, land, sea, space and security in an optimal networking environment for collaboration and innovation.

The Saudi pavilion at the show will feature wide participation of government, military and business entities. Partners including main partners Ministry of Defence, Ministry of Interior, Ministry of National Guard, Presidency of State Security, GAMI and a number of government entities in the sector, will join local companies including Strategic Partner Saudi Arabian Military Industries (SAMI), together showcasing how the Kingdom is unlocking billion-dollar opportunities for global firms amid a drive to localize 50% of its military expenditure under national Vision 2030 objectives.

Andrew Pearcey, chief executive officer at World Defence Show, commented: “The industry response has been overwhelming. It reveals major confidence from the global industry in the Kingdom’s defence market. The inaugural World Defence Show is the ideal opportunity for visitors to further explore the Saudi Arabian defence ecosystem while meeting with key players in a purpose-built venue designed to meet the needs of buyers and suppliers at all levels of the supply chain. It is an incredible achievement to have a sold-out first edition, showing fantastic promise for future events.”

The IISS Riyadh Defense Forum will be followed by a city-wide Flying Salute, seeing international military aircraft take to the skies of Riyadh.