The naval defense landscape of the Persian Gulf is poised for a significant transformation, following the announcement by Turkish naval giant ARES Shipyard to expand its operations into the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The ambitious plan involves establishing a new company, ARES Naval, in partnership with local Saudi entity Sat-el Arab, promising a major boost to regional maritime capabilities.
A Strategic Partnership for Saudi Naval Future
Oğuzhan Pehlivanli, CEO of ARES Shipyard, unveiled the details of the initiative, emphasizing the strategic importance of this move. „Our goal is to establish two shipyards for ARES Naval in Saudi Arabia: one in Dammam and the other in Jeddah. The final goal is having two shipyards over there related to manufacturing naval platforms and focusing on supporting the end users with maintenance, repair and overhaul,” Pehlivanli stated. ARES will hold most of the shares in the new firm, signaling a deep commitment to the Saudi market.
Vision 2030: Localization and Cutting-Edge Technology
This initiative aligns perfectly with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030, which aims to achieve 50 percent defense production localization by 2030. This vision mandates foreign firms to have a significant footprint in the Kingdom, either by producing their platforms locally or by joining forces with Saudi national firms for co-production. ARES Naval will work closely with the Saudi government, especially with the Saudi naval firm Sofon, the main contractor responsible for the naval projects of the Saudi Navy and Coast Guard.
Regional Expansion: The Gulf, a Priority Export Market
Beyond the Saudi partnership, the ARES CEO stressed the company’s focus on „export projects” and its intent to solidify its presence across the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region. „GCC is one of the top export markets for ARES in the future,” Pehlivanli underlined, indicating a broad regional strategy.
Maritime Innovation: From Unmanned Vessels to Co-production
ARES Shipyard is already a key player in naval innovation, recently showcased at the Dimdex 2026 naval expo in Qatar. There, an ARES-made ULAQ unmanned surface vessel (USV) was on display at the Qatari Coast Guard stand. Pehlivanli noted that the Qatari Coast Guard operates two ULAQ ISR (intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance) USVs, featuring a special configuration different from the Turkish version, which is designed for anti-surface warfare.
The smaller Qatari version of ULAQ is equipped with an electro-optical director and a remote weapon station, capable of performing missions related to „illegal immigration and survival operations for refugees, outfitted with automatically detachable life rafts.” Discussions with the Qatar Coast Guard for larger versions of ULAQ are still ongoing.
ARES Shipyard will attend the upcoming World Defense Show, where it will exhibit models of its systems and promote co-production opportunities, a crucial component of its expansion strategy and commitment to its Gulf partners.
