Morocco’s Military Modernization Raises Concerns in Spain’s Armed Forces

"For now, the Spanish army has an advantage, especially in the navy and air force, but for how much longer?" "Morocco is starting for the first time to have more and better weapons than the Spanish armed forces in certain areas. We are witnessing an increasing internationalization of the Moroccan armed forces. And it must be acknowledged that there is a willingness on the part of Morocco to modernize its armed forces and bring them up to par," analyzes for El Independiente Jesús Manuel Pérez Triana, military analyst and creator of OsintSahel.com.

According to the 2022 Global Firepower ranking, Spain is the 21st most powerful army in the world out of 145 armies, Morocco is the 61st and Algeria is the 26th. The situation seems to have evolved well. "Morocco has gained better access to defense technologies thanks to the improvement of ties with the United States and, above all, with Israel, with whom it signed a normalization agreement in 2020," explains the International Institute for Strategic Studies in its latest report. Today, Morocco has "the most diverse fleet of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in the region, composed of Chinese, Israeli, Turkish and American units," the 2023 World Military Report states.

"The improvements focus on its tank fleet with the incorporation of M1 Abrams or rocket launchers. They are integrating advanced air defense systems, which was one of their major shortcomings, and are buying observation, surveillance and kamikaze drones," details Pérez Triana, specifying that Morocco’s rearmament has increased since the Polisario’s announcement of the end of the 1991 ceasefire in November 2020. Since then, the kingdom’s military budget has continued to increase. "Morocco’s military spending is expected to reach 5.2% of its GDP in 2023," says Haizam Amirah Fernández, a researcher at the Elcano Royal Institute. Meanwhile, Algerian spending is expected to reach $18 billion and Spain’s 12.825 million euros (about $13.6 billion).

But the reality is that Morocco is gradually reducing the gap with Spain. While Spain has failed to purchase the Tiger helicopter, Morocco has acquired 24 units of the advanced Apache version. Which, according to experts, constitutes "a quantitative advantage". From a qualitative point of view, however, Spain retains its advantage, it is specified. In its army modernization plan, Spain has planned to update the Chinook helicopters and Eurofighter combat aircraft, the acquisition of four S-80 submarines, new 8x8 armored vehicles, etc. In recent years, Morocco has continued to claim Ceuta and Melilla and its tensions with Algeria have intensified due to the conflict in the Sahara.