Before a probable acquisition of Portuguese submarines, Morocco is having its officers trained on board the machines concerned. Joao Gomes Cravinho, Portuguese Minister of Defense, has confirmed this.
Even if the information is to be taken with great caution, it nevertheless comes from a personality, even if it is the Portuguese Minister of Defense. He indeed stated that "Morocco is in the process of buying submarines". This was on Friday, July 12, 2019, in Lisbon, following talks with his Moroccan counterpart, Abdellatif Loudyi, Minister Delegate in charge of National Defense Administration.
New sophisticated "air-to-air" missiles will soon be delivered to the Royal Armed Forces (FAR). This is specified by a transaction carried out by the US Department of Defense, on behalf of the FAR, with Raytheon.
An agreement of $250 million has been submitted to the Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA), a US government entity under the Department of Defense (DoD), for the maintenance of Moroccan F16s and for the transfer of equipment to Morocco. With this amount, the Kingdom of Morocco can now equip itself with air-to-air missiles and bombs.
The 53rd edition of the International Paris Air Show (SIAE) at Paris-Le Bourget was marked by several strong signals. One of the most significant will have been the commitment to give more scope to the "AéroExpo Marrakech", to make it a bigger event, with greater notoriety, in the image of what is done in France.
Initially very interested in the Russian anti-aircraft system "S400" which is considered the best in the world, Morocco will ultimately opt for the American "Patriot MIM-104". In reality, the American threat to apply the GAATSA law to any country that has concluded military agreements with Russia will have weighed heavily in the balance.
The Royal Moroccan Navy will soon receive helicopters that will be used to effectively combat submarines. These are American Bell 412EP type aircraft.
Morocco (temporarily no doubt) occupies the 4th place of arms importer supplied by Germany. Its orders in the first quarter of 2019 amount to a little more than 56 million euros.
Morocco has been cited by Lockheed Martin, the world’s largest American defense and security company, as one of the clients thanks to which the company was able to significantly increase its turnover in the first quarter of this year, compared to the previous fiscal year.
The Minister Delegate to the Head of Government, in charge of National Defense Administration, received Angel Olivares Ramirez, the Spanish Secretary of State for Defense. On the agenda, among other things: the potential for a defense industry.
The United States has officially authorized the sale of certain weapons to Morocco . This sale, which has been given the green light by the US State Department, would strengthen the military capability of the kingdom.
From yesterday until April 07, 2019, the joint military exercise "African Lion 2019" will be held in the regions of Agadir, Tifnir, TanTan, Tata and Ben Guerir. A joint Moroccan-American exercise, one of the largest in the world.