CEO of major Gulf defense firm, Saudi Arabia Military Industries, steps down

BEIRUT — After serving four years as CEO of government-owned defense firm Saudi Arabia Military Industries (SAMI), Walid Abukhaled has resigned from his position, according to the company.

“The Board has also appointed Eng. [Engineer] Omar AlMadhi, Vice Chairman of the Board and Chairman of the Board Executive Committee, as interim CEO, the firm’s Aug. 29 post on X said. “As the leading national partner for the defense and security sector, SAMI remains committed to its mission of developing and supporting the defense industry in Saudi Arabia.”

We announce the Board of Directors’ decision to accept Eng. Walid Abukhaled resignation from his position as CEO of the company. The Board of SAMI thanks Eng. Walid for his commitment to driving the company’s vision and success during his tenure. The Board has also appointed Eng.…

— SAMI (@SAMIDefense) August 29, 2024

The company did not say why they’ve made a change at the top, and a representative did not immediately respond to an off-hours request for comment from Breaking Defense.

Founded in May 2017, SAMI was established as a direct outcome of Saudi’s Vision 2030, aimed at localizing 50 percent of defense production in the Kingdom by 2030. In January 2018, the Kingdom appointed German national and former Rheinmetall executive Andreas Schwer to lead the firm

Two years later, Abukhaled replaced Schwer, leaning on his experience as the chief executive for the Middle East for the US-based defense giant Northrop Grumman.

“I’m extremely proud to say since the inception of SAMI, we became one of the top 100 defense companies in the world,” Abukhaled told Breaking Defense in an interview at WDS 2024 in February. “[At the] last World Defense Show we were not in the map at all In 2022. After four years of starting operation we became number 98. This last year we climbed 19 position now we are number 79 globally.”

During Abukhaled’s time as CEO, SAMI acquired national defense firms such as Advanced Electronics Company and Alsalam Aerospace. In addition, SAMI entered a number of joint ventures and signed contracts to take part in technology transfers, the latest of which is a $3 billion deal to localize Turkish Baykar’s Akinci drone production in Saudi Arabia.

While the firm was concentrating on following global defense trends from cyber security to AI, Abukhaled had also emphasized four targets for the firm: building production facilities, finding export opportunities, investing in international companies, and developing national talent, he told Breaking Defense earlier this year.

The company has yet to announce a permanent replacement for Abukhaled.