State-owned Saudi Arabian Military Industries(SAMI) signed an agreement with France’s Safran Helicopter Engines for engine maintenance and repair, Reuters reports.
The agreement includes “technical assistance and qualification, development of technical infrastructure, and technical training for Saudi talents who will earn their top qualifications through Safran Helicopter Engines’ facility in Tarnos, France,” state news agency SPA said.
Earlier this week, Airbus SE has signed an investment agreement worth more than 25 billion riyals ($6.7 billion) to build military and civilian helicopters in Saudi Arabia with a local defense company called Scopa Group, Bloomberg reports.
Airbus and Scopa Industries Corp. agreed to develop a helicopter manufacturing facility in Saudi Arabia, with construction of the plant expected to begin early next year, Fawaz Alakeel, Scopa CEO, said in an interview from Paris. The plant will be able to produce up to 100 military and commercial helicopters by the end of the decade, he said, according to Bloomberg.
