His Royal Highness Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud, Crown Prince and Prime Minister, has drawn up an ambitious and promising plan for the Ministry of Defense, which ensures that its cadres get advanced training and armament, the related industries are localized, and there is efficient spending, all for the purpose of maintaining the security and stability of the country at all times, and particularly when there is an escalation in surrounding threats.
On February 26, 2018, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud, the Supreme Commander of the armed, forces approved the ministry’s development plan, which includes a new vision and strategy, a targeted development model, and organizational, governance, and human resources requirements, prepared in line with the National Defense Strategy.
The strategic objectives of the ministry included achieving joint operational excellence and distinction, improving performance, modernizing the equipment and weapons, improving spending, supporting the localization of military manufacturing, developing individual performance and raising morale.
To achieve these strategic objectives, 308 initiatives will have to be implemented; they are detailed in a comprehensive document that also includes the scope of work, the entities responsible for implementing these initiatives, the timeframe, and the required procedures.
These initiatives are prioritized and organized in three stages that align with the strategic objectives of the ministry:
The first phase entails building the ministry’s center, together with the ministry’s Agency for Strategic Affairs, Agency for Excellence Services, and the Agency for Procurement and Armaments, and restructuring the Presidency of the General Staff, and establishing the Joint Forces Command.
The second phase entails reorganizing the forces to improve performance and efficiency, and enable joint action.
The third phase entails re-arming the forces and building capabilities.
The organizational structure of the ministry and the Armed Forces, which is a basic factor that helps achieve strategic goals, needs to be renewed, and an effective governance that enables quick and optimal decision-making, comprehensive resource requirements, and clear work procedures need to be put in place.
The organizational structure is based on three principles.
First, separating the responsibility for preparing, training, and equipping the armed forces from the responsibility for commanding operations, through the implementation of several initiatives that support the ministry’s efforts to develop joint capabilities.
Second, separating policies, strategies, and planning from the implementation process, which will enable the ministry to focus on designing policies, drawing up plans, and monitoring operations to ensure that goals are achieved and to assess opportunities for improvement.
Third, gaining expertise and improving efficiency by applying new automated systems such as: intelligence, command and control, communications, information technology, human resources, and procurement, to increase transparency, support the separation of roles and tasks, and improve the process control and balancing.
Three ministry agencies carry out guidance, empowerment, and acquisition, namely: the Agency for Strategic Affairs, which prepares and manages policies and strategies that secure national security interests and objectives, and defines the roles and standards followed at the ministry, in line with the strategy of the minister and the decisions of the Defense Council.
The second is the Agency for Excellence Services, which is manages tasks and work that enable the ministry and its employees to fulfill the responsibilities entrusted to them speedily and excellently, and to manage the systems and centers that support them.
The third is the Agency for Procurement and Armaments, which is responsible for the acquisition of equipment, weapons, and their supporting systems in a way that ensures sustainability, prevents duplication, and increases spending efficiency.
Among the responsibilities and roles of the approved operational model is construction and use, and this is carried out by the Chief of the General Staff, who is concerned with construction functions and manages the tasks of building combat organizations and provides them with the necessary equipment, human energy, and training, ready to rise up to the national security requirements.
The Joint Forces Command, through the Joint Operations Command of the Armed Forces, helps defend the security and interests of the Kingdom in a professional manner.
From February 4 to 8, the Ministry of Defense will showcase its impressive capabilities at the World Defense Show, to be held in Malham, north of Riyadh.
