Los misiles chinos despiertan el interés de Marruecos

Morocco is negotiating with the Chinese defence company Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation (CASIC) for the purchase of weaponry, reports Tactical Report. The media reports that the Royal Moroccan Armed Forces (FAR) are interested in Chinese-made precision-guided missiles and bombs. According to sources consulted by the portal, these weapons have a range of several kilometres and can cause significant damage. The North African nation is also negotiating the purchase of Wing Loong 1 and Wing Loong 2 drones.

Tactical Report recalls that Morocco is a regular customer of Chinese defence equipment. In fact, last year it opened its first military base dedicated to long-range air defence to house a batch of China's FD-2000B long-range air defence system. However, the Asian giant is not the only power with which Morocco has military and defence agreements. Rabat has acquired modern defence systems from countries such as the United States, France, Turkey and Israel. From the latter, it acquired Skylock Dome System, a surveillance and monitoring equipment, in 2021. Morocco and Israel have also made progress in military intelligence cooperation.  

In recent years, the Alawi kingdom has improved its defence capabilities, becoming a major military power in the region. This strategy coincides with a time of high tensions between Morocco and Algeria, after Algiers broke off bilateral diplomatic relations in August 2021. Algeria also possesses significant military capabilities, although many analysts suggest that the country should modernise its armaments.

Rabat has also increased its defence budget in order to strengthen itself militarily. This year Rabat has earmarked $11 billion for military spending, up from $5.1 billion the previous year, according to Morocco World News. Algeria, meanwhile, has also increased its defence spending, devoting $23 billion to military matters for the coming year. According to analysts, Algeria will spend part of this budget on modernising and improving military intelligence. It will also seek to diversify its sources of arms in order to move away from dependence on Russia and move closer to countries such as China, Turkey and Iran.  

At the end of 2021, Morocco was on the list of the 40 largest importers of military equipment in the world, according to a ranking by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).  

The United States has been identified by SIPRI as the main arms supplier to Morocco, which imports 90% of its armaments from the US. France is in second place, supplying 9.2% of Rabat's total arms, while the United Kingdom imports 0.3%. SIPRI also notes that US military shipments to Morocco in 2020 included 24 combat aircraft and 24 combat helicopters.