It was supposed to join Morocco in 2021; six years later, this spy plane is still American
Presented in 2020 as the first aircraft in a future Moroccan spy plane fleet, the Gulfstream G550 registered as N527GA was due to be delivered as early as 2021. Six years later, the US aircraft register indicates that it still belongs to L3Harris.
The N527GA designation refers to a Gulfstream G550 built in 2020, bearing serial number 5627. In its official register], the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) still lists its registration as valid and names L3Harris Technologies Flight Capital LLC as the owner. The aircraft remains registered in Greenville, Texas, with no pending registration changes.
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This document contradicts the announced 2021 delivery. The US registration certificate was issued on 22 May 2021 and remains valid until 31 May 2028. No transfer to Morocco appears in the aircraft’s record, El Español] also notes.
At the end of 2020, several specialist publications had nevertheless presented the arrival of these aircraft as imminent. The Italian media outlet Ares Difesa] reported that three G550s had been ordered in 2018, with the first expected in Morocco in 2021. El Español, for its part, referred at the time to four aircraft. No public document has definitively established the number selected.
The project involved converting the G550, originally designed as a business jet, into an AISREW platform dedicated to intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance and electronic warfare. Onboard equipment was to enable it to detect radars, locate electronic emissions and intercept communications. L3Harris was to integrate these systems aboard the aircraft.
The delivery promised for 2021 never took place
The G550 was chosen to meet the needs of this type of mission: flying for long periods, at high altitude and far from its base, while carrying sensors, consoles and specialist operators. Such a platform would have given the Royal Air Forces a far greater surveillance capability than a conventional aircraft and complemented the capabilities Morocco has developed around drones and electronic warfare.
But the administrative record for N527GA has not changed. The aircraft is still described as a civilian G550 with two Rolls-Royce engines, registered in the name of L3Harris’s financial subsidiary. The FAA mentions neither an export nor a deregistration, nor a future Moroccan registration number. The delivery announced for 2021 was never made public by the Moroccan or US authorities, or by L3Harris.
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The next concrete sign will appear directly in the US register: a deregistration, a change of ownership or a new registration. For now, N527GA remains registered to L3Harris, at the same Texas address as six years ago.
