Israel to Sell Advanced Spyder Air Defense System to UAE, Morocco May Follow

Israel has approved the request from the United Arab Emirates in mid-summer and will provide them with the Spyder system manufactured by the Israeli defense company Rafael Advanced Defense Systems, reports Reuters. Morocco, which is also one of the Arab countries with which it has normalized relations, could be the next customer. Since the rapprochement between the two countries, Rabat has been placing multiple orders for Israeli weapons. In 2021, it acquired the "Harop" drone from Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI), the first Israeli public (civil and military) aerospace group, as well as the Barak MX anti-aircraft system. Enough to panic Algeria, which has severed its relations with its eastern neighbor.

Spyder (Surface-to-air Python and Derby) is an Israeli-designed air defense weapon system, based on a Tatra or Mercedes truck chassis among others. It is composed of two types of surface-to-air missiles, the Python 4 and the Derby. Spyder "is capable of engaging aircraft, helicopters, unmanned aerial vehicles, drones and precision-guided munitions at short and medium range and low and medium altitudes." It "can defend both fixed and mobile targets. It is also equipped against chemical and biological threats."