The latest arms acquisitions made by Morocco from Israel create further panic in Algeria whose army believes that the new Israeli weapons give superiority to the Moroccan army in conflict situations.
“A report was sent to the head of People’s Army (APN) – Major-General “Said Chengriha” on the rearmament of the Royal Armed Forces (FAR) by Israel”, Maghreb Intelligence reported.
According to the report, the Moroccan army has acquired three types of Israeli-made drones, Hermes 900, intended to be used to counter possible attacks along the defense wall in the Sahara.
These tactical drones can fly up to 36 hours straight for reconnaissance, surveillance, and communications missions. Since 2014, the Moroccan air force has three copies of the Israeli drone Heron, delivered under the French version unarmed Harfang and deployed along the South-eastern borders, and aim at countering the incursions of terrorist groups and armed elements of the Polisario.
“These drones, combined with the Turkish Bayraktar TB-2, will allow the Moroccan army to annihilate the Algerian air defense”, the report concluded. Based on the conclusions of the last war between Azerbaijan and Armenia and the shelling carried out in Syria against the Syrian army and Iranian militias, the authors of the report reveal the inability of the S-300PMU2, Pantsir S-/Pantsir S-2/Pantsir SM anti-aircraft systems to cope with the new Moroccan capabilities.
The TB-2s, armed drones produced by Baykar have therefore allowed the Azerbaijani forces, advised and equipped by the Turkish ally, to paralyze part of the Armenian air defense, artillery and armor,” Figaro claimed.
Morocco has recently received approval from the United States to equip its 24 new “AH-64 Apache” helicopters that it has already ordered from the American manufacturer Boeing. The Moroccan army has already signed a contract with the Israeli firm Rafael to equip them with Spike LR II intelligent missiles and Spike NLOS. These are 4 generation anti-tank guided missiles whose range varies between 600 meters to 25 kilometers, which worries the neighboring country more.
By Nouhaila El Bouhli
