Morocco Seeks First Submarines, Sparking Naval Race with Algeria

The French manufacturer Naval Group and the German ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems are competing for this mega contract, according to sources at La Razon, specifying that the former could outdo the latter.

Morocco does not have a submarine and wants to quickly fill this void in its royal navy. Algeria, its neighbor and ally of the Polisario in the conflict in the Sahara, has four 636 submarines (a modernized version of the Russian Kilo) and is awaiting the delivery of two more, equipped with Kalibr missiles with a range of up to 2,400 kilometers at Mach 3.

For its part, Spain has only one Agosta class submarine, the "Galerna", and is awaiting the first of the four S-80 class submarines ordered. As for the French navy, it has 10 nuclear-powered submarines, four of which can launch ballistic missiles.

The acquisition of submarines is urgent for Morocco to ensure the surveillance of the coast and the Saharan waters, and to ward off any possible attack from Algeria.