Lockheed Martin seeks true partnership with KSA, localizes THAAD parts production

Lockheed Martin is looking to develop true partnerships with local companies, a senior official from the weapons firms said Monday, shortly after the company announced that it would begin manufacturing parts for its THAAD system in Saudi Arabia.

“Lockheed Martin’s approach is to develop partnerships and not just transactional suppliers. We focus both on developing core capabilities to do the work in front of us as well as capabilities our partners will need to flourish in the defense market,” Jason Reynolds, the VP and GM of the Integrated Air and Missile Defense told Al Arabiya English.

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Terminal High Altitude Area Defense, or THAAD, offers protection from short, medium and intermediate-range ballistic missile threats. These systems were on full display around the World Defense Show venue in Riyadh, where the announcement was made.

The sub-contracts for the THAAD system will enhance manufacturing capabilities in Saudi Arabia and transfer expertise to strengthen the country’s defense industry, Lockheed said in a statement to the media.

The defense system was first approved for sale to the Kingdom in 2017. The system is also being used to protect the air above Saudi-neighbor UAE. Various reports state that the THAAD system’s first known operation was used to destroy Houthi drones over UAE airspace in 2022.

The American aerospace and defense company has held a decades-long presence in the region, especially in Saudi Arabia. From aircraft to missiles, Lockheed Martin has played an active role in supplying the Kingdom’s defense capabilities.

It is one of many international defense firms prominently aligning with Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 goals, an aspect of which was marked after a formal commitment to THAAD localization in 2019.

Since then, “Lockheed Martin has been working with multiple levels of the Saudi industrial base to develop and deliver on localization projects,” Reynolds said on the sidelines of the World Defense Show taking place in Riyadh.

In 2021, the Saudi PIF wealth-fund backed Saudi Arabian Military Industries (SAMI) agreed to set up a joint venture with Lockheed Martin to transfer knowledge and technology that would aid in training Saudi nationals and localizing the manufacturing process.

“The results of our first two projects can be seen here at the World Defense Show today - the THAAD Missile canister production with MEPC and THAAD Launcher production with AIC Steel. Numerous Saudi companies supported these activities at sub-tier levels,” Reynolds said.

The company, he added, has “exciting projects in development and execution with the Saudi industry.”

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