Morocco and Israel to Build Drone Manufacturing Plants in New Defense Partnership

In addition to increasing its fleet of drones, Morocco aims to develop its production capacities through technology transfer. According to Israeli sources, the kingdom and Israel are preparing to build two drone manufacturing plants capable of strike and intelligence gathering missions, in the northeast and south of the kingdom," reports Shephard Media.

The manufacture of these drones under license is part of the security cooperation agreement signed between the two countries on November 24, during the visit of the Israeli Minister of Defense, Benny Gantz, to Morocco. It took a few months of negotiations with the Israeli company BlueBird Aero Systems, 50% owned by Israel Aerospace Industries, an aeronautical construction company with the most advanced technologies, whose chairmanship of the board of directors has recently been entrusted to Amir Peretz, former Israeli Minister of Defense of Moroccan origin, for this agreement to become a reality.

This agreement is not limited to the manufacture of drones. It also gives Morocco the opportunity to acquire the Israeli anti-drone defense system Skylock Dome and the medium-range surface-to-air missile system Barak 8, designed to deal with all types of airborne threats (aircraft, helicopters, anti-ship missiles, drones, cruise missiles and fighter jets).