The American Chamber of Commerce in Saudi Arabia’s Defense & Security Committee, chaired by Nomaan Syed of Leidos, hosted an interactive round table discussion between the defense industry and key leaders from the U.S. Security Cooperation enterprise, which included Heidi Grant, Director of the Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA); Kelli Seybolt, Deputy Undersecretary of the Air Force for International Affairs (SAF/IA); Elizabeth Wilson, Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Army for Defense Exports & Cooperation (DASA-DE&C); Michael Laychak, Director of Defense Technology Security Administration (DTSA); Scott Kripowicz, Director for International Affairs at the Missile Defense Agency (MDA); and CAPT Lawrence Meehan, Director of CENTCOM at the Navy International Programs Office (NIPO).
DSCA, led by Director Grant, was in Riyadh to co-chair the second U.S. – K.S.A. Defense Planning Committee (DPC). Director Grant noted, "The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is an important and valued partner of the United States. Our strategic partnership is enduring and we remain committed to achieving our long-standing mutual security goals."
Nomaan Syed, Chairman of the Defense & Security Committee at the American Chamber of Commerce, echoed these sentiments, highlighting that "The United States and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s partnership is built on decades of security cooperation and strong business ties. It was encouraging to hear the commitment of the U.S. Security Cooperation leadership towards strengthening its strategic defense partnership with the Kingdom while delivering effective, enduring, and timely solutions to ensure the U.S. remains a partner of choice.”
In the closed-door meeting, American defense companies, which included Lockheed Martin, Raytheon, Leidos, Northrop Grumman, L3Harris, Oshkosh Defense, Bechtel, Kratos Defense, ManTech, Vinnell Arabia, Jones Group International and other SMEs, shared their thoughts on the Kingdom’s defense contracting landscape.
Director Grant fielded comments from the aforementioned organizations and brought the key takeaways back to the DPC, which she co-chaired with His Excellency Dr. Khalid Al-Biyari. The outcome from the DPC meeting was the mutual signature of a DPC Charter Document affirming the DPC as the senior bilateral forum for addressing U.S.-Saudi security cooperation and foreign military sales. “This is a real win, showing our genuine commitment to this relationship and to the defense of the Kingdom,” noted Grant.
