Based on its Katana round, under development for the French Army, KNDS seeks to bring to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia a similar round, named Sabir, to be produced locally.

As part of the Saudi Vision 2030, Saudi Arabia aims at bringing into the country 50% of its defence expenditures by that date. Independence on ammunition production is one of those steps and KNDS shall assist in that direction by means of its Sabir program, which will provide the Saudi Armed Forces with locally-produced guided 155 mm ammunition.

The roadmap has been agreed with the General Authority for Military Industries. The first step is the production of artillery modular charges, while step two will be the production of the shells. To that end, a local explosive production facility will have to be established, alongside a filling facility for artillery rounds and potentially other types of ammunition, according to information.

In the meantime, KNDS started discussing its final requirements for the guided round with the customer. The company aims at leveraging as much as possible the know-how acquired with the Katana, however the Sabir will have some key differences compared to the round being developed for the Armée de Terre. 

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The latter system is fitted with a GPS/INS-based guidance system, while the Saudi requirement is for metric accuracy, in order to use the Sabir against high-value targets. The new Saudi-made round will have a range of 45 km when used from a 52-calibre artillery system, while its guidance system will be based on an inertial platform, the satellite positioning receiver being capable of exploiting all global navigation satellite systems (GNSS). 

This will allow bringing the round in the vicinity of the target, then the semi-active laser (SAL) guidance will be used to provide the required metric accuracy, this obviously needing the target to be illuminated by a third party, either a drone or a ground-based illuminator.

KNDS is currently discussing the program with Saudi authorities, as well as potential exports outside the country. Among the advantages, the French company underlines that the round contains 2 kg more explosive than competitors. A possible range increase to 60 km is also being considered for further evolution of the Sabir.

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