Israel Aerospace Industries, supplies Morocco with attack drones known as ‘kamikaze’ worth $22 million.
In exchange for normalizing relations with Israel, Rabat obtained recognition of its disputed sovereignty over Western Sahara, occupied since 1975, by both Israel and Washington.
It is a 2.5 meter long, 3 meter wide Harop class drone that can fly up to 7 hours and over 1,000 kilometers with a 20 kg payload of explosives.
Morocco seeks to increase military control over the territory of Western Sahara where the resistance of the Polisario Front is still active.
Its acquisition constitutes a strategic threat to other neighboring countries such as Algeria and Spain. This presence will lead to an arms escalation that may affect our country.
Rearmament and friendship with the U.S.
Morocco has been arming itself for several years in order to consolidate its military supremacy. It is reinforcing its army by reintroducing compulsory military service, in a kind of pique with Algeria which may compromise Spain, according to the report of the “Institute of Security and Culture” which warns us that the territorial integrity of Spain may be seriously threatened in the future.
In this way, the United States strengthens its position in the area as a power, pampering its Moroccan ally and weakening the rest of the countries in the region.
That two countries neighboring Spain could enter into a pre-war situation, or at least a situation of high hostility, should be a priority for national security and requires a specific analysis.
F-35 versus Eurofighter
Morocco continues to rearm its Armed Forces with F-35 fighters (considered the best fighter in the world), “Abrams” armored vehicles, “Apache” helicopters, anti-missile batteries, ships or drones, the aforementioned recognition by the U.S. also provides very important diplomatic and economic benefits.
On the one hand, diplomatically, it represents a reinforcement in the “pulse that it maintains with the European Union”, both for the exploitation of the waters of the Western Sahara and for the aspiration to extend its Exclusive Economic Zone “invading” the waters of the Canary Islands.
Sensing U.S. support, Morocco did not hesitate to demand Ceuta and Melilla again.
According to experts, “in the long term, Moroccan rearmament could present a challenge to Spanish military capacity”. And not only militarily, because in addition to its infrastructure projects, which could affect Spanish ports such as Algeciras, Valencia and Barcelona, its political and territorial ambitions mean that “both the economic interests and the territorial integrity of Spain may be seriously threatened in the future”.
Institute of Security and Culture