A U.S. military aircraft is based in Rabat, Pentagon extends support through 2031

The Pentagon announced on June 26, 2026, that it had awarded Vertex Aerospace a new contract for the logistical support of the U.S. C-12 fleet. Rabat is explicitly listed among the locations where the services may be provided through June 30, 2031.

The contract may reach $500 million, but this amount concerns the entire U.S. operation worldwide, not Morocco.

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Another official U.S. Air Force document helps explain why Rabat appears in this contract. In the inventory of aircraft and their locations, the Moroccan capital is associated with a very specific entry: “Rabat, Morocco: (1) C-12C/D.”

This is therefore an aircraft from the U.S. military C-12 fleet, a twin-engine aircraft derived from the Beechcraft King Air and used notably to transport personnel or cargo rapidly.

A U.S. operation extended through 2031

The new contract covers the maintenance and support required for the missions of this fleet, including the urgent transport of personnel and equipment, medical evacuations, and certain test-support operations.

The Pentagon also states that the C-12 aircraft concerned serve several U.S. organizations, including Air Force Materiel Command, the Pacific Air Forces, the Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA), and the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), the U.S. military intelligence agency. However, this does not make it possible to attribute Rabat’s C-12 to the DIA: Washington does not specify which aircraft works for which organization.

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The U.S. presence linked to the C-12 aircraft in Rabat is not new. Pentagon contracts had already cited the Moroccan capital several years earlier. What changes in 2026 is the duration: the new contract confirms that Rabat remains integrated into the U.S. support operation, now planned through June 30, 2031.

The Air Force document, for its part, provides a detail rarely made public: this operation corresponds to a C-12C/D specifically listed in Rabat.