Marruecos e Israel acuerdan producir drones kamikazes
The close relationship between Morocco and Israel continues following the consolidation of political ties between the two countries after the United States mediated for the Alawi kingdom and the Hebrew state to begin to have intense contacts in the wake of the famous Abraham Accords promoted by the past US administration of Donald Trump, which meant the establishment of diplomatic relations between the Israeli country and several Arab nations such as the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain.
After numerous economic, political and even cybersecurity development agreements, now comes the announcement of the intention of the governments of both countries to produce kamikaze drones.
The Kingdom wishes to enter the suicide drone manufacturing industry with Israel's cooperation. Under this intention, the two nations will seal an agreement in the coming days for the production of these aerial combat devices that carry explosives to hit various targets without risking human lives and using the device itself as a weapon.
The agreement could come into effect after the Israeli defence minister's next visit to Morocco to sign defence cooperation pacts, analyst Mohamed Shkeir confirmed to Defense News, a report also picked up by Bladi.
The agreement will also include short- and medium-range missile systems that will be useful for the Moroccan army to complete its weapons equipment, as well as armoured vehicles and tanks, which can be used in any conflict that may develop with Algeria or the Polisario Front in the Western Sahara region, as explained by Mohamed Shkeir himself and published by Bladi.
The situation has recently become quite tense with Algeria, which became clear with the Algerian announcement of the severance of diplomatic relations in view of the numerous political disagreements between the two countries, which are at loggerheads over various issues in the Maghreb region, such as the question of Western Sahara, where Morocco plans to implement a broad autonomy under Moroccan sovereignty, an option supported by major nations such as the United States and the United Arab Emirates; All this in the face of an initiative for a referendum on Sahrawi independence defended by the Polisario Front and which enjoys little international support, including that of the Algerian Republic.
Morocco thus continues to show interest in reinforcing its military arsenal and especially in increasing its drone equipment. It recently received a batch of Turkish Bayraktar TB2 drones to monitor the borders of Ceuta and Melilla, as reported by the media outlet Far-Maroc. "It is normal for Morocco to obtain Turkish drones after their proven combat effectiveness in various theatres of operations, whether in Iraq or Syria," explained Shkeir.
For the expert, "Morocco can obtain Turkish drones and can agree with Israel to manufacture drones, given the military alliance between the Hebrew and Moroccan states, as well as the military partnership between the Kingdom and the United States". The analyst also noted that a joint Moroccan-US entity could be used to channel Israeli drone manufacturing on Moroccan territory, according to Bladi.
Morocco received four Israeli-made suicide drones, Hermes 900, intended to deal with attacks on the defensive wall in Western Sahara. "If these drones prove their operational capability, Morocco will start the production of different models of these drones," Shkeir explained.
With these moves, Morocco continues to strengthen its military potential, not only through contacts with Israel and Turkey, but also through agreements in recent months under which it has received arms supplies from a valuable and important ally, the United States, including the recent delivery of up to 24 combat helicopters and US training for Moroccan pilots.
