Saudi Deputy Defense Minister Comes to Shop for 'K-Defense Industry' [Yang Nak-gyu's Defence Club]

Tour of Army and Air Force Units and Defense Companies from the 14th
Shows Interest in 6th Generation Fighter Joint Development and Submarines

The Saudi Deputy Minister of Defense will visit South Korea on the 13th. He plans to tour our military units and defense companies to review 'K-Defense' items.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

On the day, a government official stated, "Talal Abdullah Alotaibi (TALAL ABDULLAH T ALOTAIBI), the Saudi Deputy Minister of Defense, will visit South Korea and tour naval and air force units as well as defense companies over two days starting from the 14th."

The Saudi Deputy Minister of Defense is scheduled to first visit the Daegu Air Defense Control Command of the Air Force and Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI). He will personally observe the performance of the domestically produced fighter jet 'KF-21 Boramae,' which is currently undergoing test flights. Afterwards, he will visit the Agency for Defense Development (ADD) to discuss the joint development of the 6th generation fighter jet. Last month, Hanwha Aerospace participated in the 'World Defense Show 2024 (WDS, Saudi Defense Exhibition)' held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, unveiling key components in the aviation sector. At that time, the Saudi government showed interest in the core components of Korea's first fighter jet (KF21), including the F414 engine, known as the 'heart' of the fighter, the AESA radar, referred to as the 'eyes' of the fighter, advanced avionics, and the Directional Infrared Countermeasure (DIRCM) system, which is an aircraft survivability system.

The Saudi Deputy Minister of Defense will also visit the Republic of Korea Navy's Jinhae Submarine Command to tour the operational 3,000-ton Jangbogo III (Dosan Ahn Changho-class) Batch-I second submarine. Saudi Arabia, which had invested little in naval power, has recently shown great interest in strengthening its forces as maritime routes in the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf face threats. The Saudi Navy is expected to decide on acquiring at least four medium-sized submarines within this year.

Domestic defense companies view Saudi defense exports positively. According to a report released on the 11th (local time) by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), Saudi Arabia (8.4%) is the world's second-largest arms importer. In November last year, LIG Nex1 signed a contract worth $3.2 billion (approximately 4.25 trillion KRW) for 10 batteries of the Korean Patriot M-SAM2 (Cheongung-2).