US-Morocco Military Deal Raises Concerns in Spain as Regional Power Balance Shifts

This agreement signed on October 2, on the occasion of the visit of the Pentagon chief, Mark Esper, to Rabat, allows the Royal Armed Forces (FAR), among other things, to modernize their fleet of F-16 fighter jets, which have undergone a series of technical and technological modifications, as well as that of the 6x6 Cougar armored tanks and the long-range surface-to-air missile system MIM-104 Patriot, reports the newspaper El Espanol, stating that a $768 million contract to be completed by February 2023, as announced by the Pentagon, places Morocco among the 22 countries that will acquire advanced medium-range air-to-air missiles (AMRAAM).

Through this agreement, the United States would give Morocco the keys to build drones and radars, for surveillance and attack, and to carry out intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance missions on land and sea spaces, day and night, up to 34 hours in a row, the publication reports.

Thus, the Kingdom is on the verge of joining the very exclusive club of countries that will have access to the latest jewel of the American war machine, "which can only be maneuvered so far by about a thousand pilots," the Spanish newspaper indicates.

For the Spanish military chiefs, it is important that their country be equipped with F-35s before 2030, the same source continues, indicating that with this technology transfer, Madrid fears a real threat to its strategic and vital interests in the Mediterranean and the Atlantic.

The other source of concern for Spain, the cyber-security and cyber-defense aspects contained in the agreement, with the installation of antennas from the National Security Agency (NSA), the US Navy intelligence attached to the Ministry of Defense, as well as the CIA, concludes the newspaper.