US and Morocco Discuss Military Technology Transfer in High-Level Defense Talks

At the heart of the exchanges between Anthony Tata and the Delegate Minister to the Head of Government, in charge of National Defense Administration, Abdeltif Loudyi, are the training of executives, the exchange of expertise and the organization of large-scale joint exercises, not to mention the regular and alternating holding of meetings of the Defense Advisory Committee.

Morocco has seized this opportunity to express its willingness to promote military industries on its soil and cooperation at the African level in this field, which will allow the transfer of American expertise and pioneering technologies to the Kingdom, according to a statement from the General Staff of the Royal Armed Forces (FAR). Abdelhamid Harfi, an expert in military affairs, interviewed by Hespress, particularly emphasizes the development of the F16 fighter jets in Morocco, to become the F16V fighter, based on a huge agreement with the United States.

Moreover, the Moroccan fleet of F16s of the Royal Air Force (FRA) will be entirely of the Viper standard, one of the most powerful models of the famous American fighter. If a new F16 squadron is manufactured in the Lockheed Martin factories on American soil, it will be modernized directly by Moroccan engineers in the Kingdom. According to Abdelhamid Harfi, this technology transfer will complement the Kingdom’s achievements, as is already the case in the field of the military aeronautics industry where the F5 aircraft have already been developed in partnership with Israeli companies in Meknes, as well as the Mirage 1 aircraft, in partnership with France and Belgium.

Since the cost of developing military equipment abroad is high compared to its development at home, "the partnership with America in this field will develop further in order to update local military equipment, with a tendency towards cooperation between the two countries to manufacture military equipment for the African market from Morocco," concludes Abdelhamid Harfi.