The combined Moroccan-American exercise African Lion 2021 will take place from June 7 to 18 in several regions of Morocco, including the Mehbes region in the Sahara, with the participation of thousands of military personnel from many countries and a very large amount of land, air and naval equipment.
The General Staff of the Royal Armed Forces (FAR) has just unveiled the schedule of African Lion 2021. Part of this Moroccan-American combined exercise will take place in the Mahbès area, in the Moroccan Sahara.
From May 23 to June 3, 2021, French and Moroccan soldiers trained in the Ouarzazate region. This bilateral military exercise is part of the good relationship maintained by the French Army General Staff with the Royal Armed Forces .
The military maneuvers usually carried out in Ceuta and which went unnoticed, attracted particular interest on Wednesday due to the diplomatic crisis between Morocco and Spain.
Morocco is one of France’s biggest arms customers. From 2019 to 2020, French arms exports fell by nearly 41%.
Morocco has been engaged for a few years in a dynamic of strengthening and modernizing its army, with the support of the United States and Saudi Arabia. Would this Moroccan military policy constitute a threat to Spain?
The State Security, the Belgian civil intelligence service, identified in 2015 on its radar, Jürgen Conings, a soldier considered a potentially dangerous extremist, and actively sought by the police and the army for several days. The latter expressed his intention to attack a mosque.
French helicopters will take off in the coming days for Morocco where they will participate in the military exercise called "Authorise 2021".
Morocco plans to acquire the Ejder Yalçın armored vehicle from the Turkish manufacturer Nurol Makina. This will further strengthen its armament.
The Royal Armed Forces (FAR) destroyed, this Monday, May 17, 2021, a Polisario vehicle in the Mahbès sub-sector. A response to a provocation from the East of the defense wall in the Sahara.
The African Lion 21 scheduled for next June in the Moroccan Sahara will see the participation of more than 700 soldiers from the Georgia National Guard. In addition to Morocco, military maneuvers will also take place in Tunisia and Senegal.
Morocco’s military spending has exploded in 10 years, reaching $4.8 billion in 2020. This is revealed by the report of the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (Sipri) .