Morocco Expands Military Arsenal with $2.25 Billion Abrams Tank Fleet

In 2012, the kingdom had acquired from the United States, for more than a billion dollars, a fleet of 222 M1 Abrams armored tanks, a model used by the US army to fight in Iraq or Afghanistan. Five years later, in 2017, the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) approved another Moroccan request to purchase 162 more Abrams M1A2 tanks for $1.25 billion. In total, the kingdom now has a fleet of 384 Abrams tanks of different models, reports El Español.

As part of the policy of upgrading its army, the Moroccan government announced in October that it would invest $12 million to order the latest version of the Abrams, the M1A2 SEPv3. The Royal Moroccan Armed Forces will receive a batch of this equipment in the course of 2021, and a second batch in the first quarter of 2022. According to General Dynamics, the manufacturer of the Abrams, this version includes a multi-function fire control system, improved 120 mm ammunition, a telecommunications ecosystem and other cutting-edge technologies.

The M1A2 SEPv3, 9.77 m long with a width of 3.7 m and a height of 2.4 m, has a top speed of 68 kilometers per hour, a range of 425 kilometers and weighs 66.8 tons. In addition to Morocco and the United States, the Abrams has been acquired by the armies of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Iraq, Egypt and Australia.