85% of space allocated at Saudi Arabia’s World Defense Show six months ahead of the inaugural event

International firms have booked more than half of space at the inaugural World Defense Show (WDS), to be held in Riyadh under the Patronage of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud from 6-9 March 2022.

WDS has allocated more than 85% of its space, providing a platform for global firms to connect with the regional defense market and explore partnership opportunities with more than 100 Saudi firms exhibiting at the show.

Key government entities have confirmed their participation at the show including Ministry of Defense, Ministry of National Guard, Ministry of Interior, Presidency of State Security and General Authority for Military Industries. They will be joined by some of the largest local defense firms including Military Industries Corporation, Al-Tadrea, GDC, Middle East Propulsion Company, Saudi Arabian Military Industries, National Company for Mechanical Systems, and Wahaj alongside leading global defense companies such as Embraer, General Dynamics, Lockheed Martin, NORINCO and Rolls Royce.

Shaun Ormrod, Chief Executive Officer of World Defense Show, commented: “With over 800 exhibitors, 30,000 visitors and 85 military delegations, World Defense Show will open the local and regional defense industry to partnerships and investments from international defense players.

“This will be the first time the global industry has had such open access to all the opportunities with Saudi defense entities, and we are greatly looking forward to providing the world’s best meeting environment for global industry decision makers.”

The biennial event focusing on defense interoperability across air, land, sea, security and space, will enable the industry to keep pace with developments across defense and technology. The speed at which these developments take place compels the industry to cooperate across borders and domain expertise to generate opportunities throughout the defense value chain.

By connecting key defense contacts, primes, SMEs, and buyers, World Defense Show has laid the foundations to advance the defense industry and address the challenges presented by ever-deeper defense systems integration.