A joint venture between a US defense startup and a Saudi firm is building a factory near Riyadh to manufacture combat drones modeled on Iran’s Shahed Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicles (UCAVs), which has been used to pummel Gulf countries over the past few months.

The facility is being developed by SR2Vector, a new partnership between Utah-based Vector Defense and Saudi-based startup SR2 Defense Systems. It will build a one-way attack drone developed by Vector, dubbed SKYWASP, that is capable of hitting targets up to 1,500 kilometers (930 miles) away, allowing it to strike targets deep behind enemy lines.

SKYWASP’s delta-wing airframe, blended fuselage, nose-mounted payload section, and rear pusher propeller closely resemble the layout seen on Iran’s well-known Shahed series.

In May 2026, SR2 Defense Systems, the Kingdom’s first private-sector advanced defense technologies manufacturing group of its kind, today confirmed the launch of its full operations and the activation of its in-Kingdom manufacturing value chain. SR2 was formally established as a Saudi-domiciled entity (Commercial Registration No. 7053765173) in Q1 2026, and has since built out its founding team, partnership architecture, and operational platform in preparation for this moment.

SR2 was founded as a groundbreaking private-sector initiative to leverage the speed, scale, and discipline that only private capital and private operators can bring to the Kingdom's most consequential industrial mission: building the advanced defense systems Saudi Arabia and its allies need today. The company was established to close the gaps that exist in the marketplace and to move on the capabilities the Kingdom needs most, with the technology partners best equipped to build them.

SR2 was founded by four seasoned executives: Idris Al-Zakari serves as Chief Executive Officer, Lucien Zeigler serves as Chief Strategy Officer, Brad Gandy serves as Chief Operating Officer, and Ahmad Nasralla serves as Chief Investment Officer.

Originally conceived and announced as a traditional US-Saudi joint venture between the leading Saudi private sector capabilities group and a leading US defense technology company, the co-founders opted instead to establish an all-new entity “for maximum market agility to meet the moment; a challenge and opportunity that became more urgent as conflict accelerated across the region,” the co-founders said.

Idris Al-Zakari, Chief Executive Officer of SR2 Defense Systems, said: “The Kingdom's private sector is ready to do what was once thought impossible: manufacture the world's most advanced defense systems needed for today and tomorrow on Saudi soil, at scale, with precision for not just local markets but global partner-customers. The brilliance of SR2 is the partnership behind it.”

“Together with our American co-founders, we fuse the best Saudi capabilities and the best US/NATO and allied technology to create a new, defining chapter for the Kingdom’s defense industrial base, and SR2 is leading it,” he added.

Col. Brad Gandy (Ret.), Chief Operating Officer of SR2 Defense Systems, said: “As someone who has spent a career in service with the U.S. Army and decades in the region, the moment we’re in now is unlike any challenge before it, and we view this challenge as an opportunity to catalyze the defensive capabilities of our Saudi partners and our allies.

“What we build with SR2 is what is needed now, for the conflicts of today and tomorrow, and can integrate with the allied supply chain at this critical time,” he added.

SR2 manufactures battlefield-proven, globally in-demand US and allied defense technology in-Kingdom across multiple ITAR/NATO-compliant capabilities and manufacturing facilities. The company is structured to deliver sovereign manufacturing capability for the systems the Kingdom’s security depends on, at the speed and precision the moment demands.

SR2 is fully aligned with Vision 2030's localization mandate and operates as a Saudi-domiciled private-sector entity. The company holds active partnerships and programs across counter-UAS, precision munitions, autonomous systems, and additional advanced defense capabilities, with multiple programs in execution today. (Sources: SR2 Defense Systems; Vector; Photo: SKYWASP © SR2 Defense Systems)