Morocco Shifts Military Procurement from France to US, Defense Spending Data Shows

Morocco had acquired military equipment from French manufacturers, including a FREMM frigate in 2008 (Naval Group) and two spy satellites in 2013 (Airbus and Thales), worth 1.8 billion euros of military equipment during the 2008-2018 period. These were two prosperous years for the commercial relations between France and Morocco in terms of armaments. However, sales by French manufacturers to the Moroccan Kingdom have seen a drastic decline, with an average of 38.6 million euros over a period of 11 years (between 2.3 million in 2017 and 89.9 million in 2016).

On the other hand, the United States has won major contracts with Morocco for $10.38 billion, just in 2019. In detail, the American manufacturer Lockheed Martin is responsible for modernizing 23 of the 24 F-16s purchased in 2008 for nearly $1 billion (F-16V). It must also ensure the continued operational maintenance of the F-16s for $250 million. Also last year, Morocco had ordered ammunition for its F-16s ($209 million), and Rabat wants to acquire 25 new F-16Cs for $3.7 billion. The Raytheon company sells TOW-2A wire-guided anti-tank missiles to the kingdom for an estimated cost of $776 million.