Morocco’s Military Modernization Raises Concerns in Spain

The constant strengthening of the capabilities of the Royal Armed Forces (FAR), which reflects the Moroccan government’s concern to modernize its army, seems to worry the Spanish Armed Forces (FAS) which have lost effectiveness in recent years, notes El Diario which takes the liberty of comparing the military forces of the two neighboring countries, in the light of the ongoing migration and diplomatic crisis.

Morocco, which has undoubtedly become a military power in the Maghreb thanks to the support of Saudi Arabia and the United States, constitutes an obvious threat to Spain, notes the newspaper, which recalls the significant acquisitions of military equipment announced by Morocco since 2018 (25 F-16 fighters, 36 Apache helicopters, more than 200 M1 Abrams main battle tanks, F-35 fighters...). The kingdom already has a Patriot air defense system, Raytheon AIM-120 AMRAAM air-to-air missiles and four MQ-9 Reaper drones and plans an average budget of around $22 billion for the continuous modernization of its army. An exorbitant amount, according to the newspaper, given the many development challenges facing the Moroccan government, which has reinstated compulsory military service since last year.

While Morocco devotes about 6% of its GDP to defense, Spain, for its part, barely allocates 1.7% of its GDP to this sector, adds the newspaper, which points out that in terms of equipment, material and armaments (aircraft, helicopters, warships and submarines), Spain is ahead of Morocco, even if, on the other hand, the kingdom surpasses it in terms of personnel, main battle tanks and artillery... According to the 2021 Global Firepower Index world ranking on militarily powerful countries, Spain and Morocco occupy the 18th and 53rd places respectively out of 138 countries, notes the newspaper, which deduces that Morocco is taking great strides to reduce the gap with Algeria (27th in the ranking) militarily and to strengthen its fight against jihadist terrorism in the region.

And the newspaper concludes that the Moroccan dynamic of modernizing its army does not in itself constitute a threat to Spain, much less to the autonomous cities of Ceuta and Melilla which Morocco has claimed for years, but rather aims at competition with Algeria which could have very negative repercussions on Spanish interests in the region.