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Royal Moroccan Air Force - Modernization

The air force was formed in 1956 as Sharifian Royal Aviation with assistance from French advisers. Its first combat aircraft were donated shortly afterward by Iraq, and the force began a steady expansion that continued until the early 1980s. The first jet aircraft were MiG-15 and MiG-17 fighters supplied by the Soviet Union in 1961. Since that time, however, France and the United States have provided the bulk of the FRA's aircraft and other equipment.

Morocco began to receive military equipment from the United States in 1960, but deliveries were limited until the late 1960s. At that time the United States delivered 24 Northrop F-5A and F-5B fighter-bombers and antitank weapons. Later sales included C-130H Hercules transport aircraft, 50 M-48 tanks, and 330 M-113 armored personnel carriers. These acquisitions were intended to reinforce Morocco's position against Algeria's more powerful armored and air forces.

The United States was far more reluctant to provide weapons that could be used in Morocco's war in the Western Sahara. In 1977 and 1978 the administration of President Jimmy Carter rejected Moroccan requests to provide assault helicopters and fixed-wing COIN aircraft because this equipment was particularly suited for operations against the Polisario forces and because there were indications that American equipment supplied previously had been used in the Western Sahara. Weapons classed as strictly defensive, including air defense and communications equipment, continued to be sold by Washington during this period.

In a reversal of previous policy, the administration proposed a US$235 million arms package to Morocco in October 1979 that included six OV-10 Bronco COIN aircraft, 20 F-5E fighter- bombers, and 24 Hughes MD-100 light helicopters. Observers pointed to several reasons for the shift in policy: the Carter administration was seeking to assure friends abroad that the United States was a reliable ally; Moroccan troops had recently played an important role backing Western interests in the 1977 and 1978 interventions supporting the beleaguered government of Zaire; Hassan had offered asylum to the exiled shah of Iran, an American ally; and Saudi Arabia, an influential friend of the United States, strongly supported the sale.

Moreover, Polisario attacks against positions within Morocco proper had demonstrated a new threat that could justify, in certain situations, the use of American arms against the front as being "defensive." After considerable debate the United States Congress approved the sale on the written condition that the actual deliveries would be contingent upon progress in negotiations for settlement of the war. These arms, except the helicopters, were delivered in 1981 and 1982.

French equipment had predominated in the FAR since 1956. Weapons delivered in the late 1970s and early 1980s included 60 Mirage F-l fighter-bombers, 24 Alpha Jet light strike/trainers, 40 Puma troop-carrying helicopters, numerous Stentor ground surveillance radar units, and several hundred armored personnel carriers and reconnaissance vehicles. Political scientist John Damis estimated that the total value of French arms sold to Morocco between 1974 and 1982 probably ranged between US$1.5 billion and US$2 billion.

According to The Military Balance published in 1984 by the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies, the FRA inventory included 106 combat aircraft. The air force had been almost completely reequipped during the late 1970s. The heart of the force was five squadrons of fighter-bombers. Three of these were equipped with Dassault Mirage Fl-Cs and Fl-Es delivered by France in the late 1970s; the other two squadrons flew Northrop F-5As and F-5Bs sent by the United States in the late 1960s and more modern F-5Es and F-5Fs delivered a decade later. The F-5Es and Fl-Cs operated mainly as interceptors in an air defense role.

The air defense network in 1984 consisted of these aircraft and an array of 16 AN/TPS-43 early warning and coastal surveillance radar located at different sites. There was also a squadron devoted to counterinsurgency (COIN) and reconnaissance operations that used Aereospatiale Magister and North American OV-10 Bronco aircraft. The transport squadron had been reequipped with American-built C-130H Hercules to replace the C-119s that had been used until 1979.

By the early 1980s the FRA buildup and modernization had ground to a halt largely because of Morocco's financial limitations. In an interview in late 1984, Hassan stated that his country was in the market to buy Mirage 2000s and Northrop F-20s to supplement the Mirage F-ls and Northrop F-5s.

The Reagan administration dropped any conditions in supporting the Moroccans, as the need for staging bases in North Africa for the Rapid Deployment Joint Task Force made access to Morocco's airfields important. The U.S. Government provided an extensive quantity of military equipment and services to Morocco through FMS credit purchases and the Military Assistance Program (MAP). The major end items were F-5 fighters and C-130 transport aircraft. The majority of these end items were financed by FMS credit and third country funds, and were delivered in the late 1970s and early 1980s. With the exception of the delivery of 10 F-5 fighters in 1989, the focus of the U.S. security assistance effort in Morocco shifted from procurement and was directed at sustaining and maintaining U.S.-origin equipment in the Moroccan Armed Forces.

The Royal Moroccan Air Force had 95 combat aircraft and 24 armed helicopters in 2006. On October 13, 2009 Hawker Beechcraft sold 24 Beechcraft T-6C trainers to the Royal Moroccan Air Force. The $185.3 million contract includes the aircraft, technical and logistics support and other services. The Royal Moroccan Air Force was the launch customer for the T-6C aircraft, an improved version of the T-6A Texan II. The T-6C would replace Morocco's T-34 basic trainers and Cessna T-37 jet trainers.

Morocco was in the process of upgrading its armed forces and was buying large amounts of military equipment, including fighters, trainer aircraft and frigates. As almost all significant combat equipment was acquired between 1978 and 1981, Morocco was moving ahead with an upgrade program for its Mirage F1s and was also engaged in the acquisition of new equipment that would ensure the air arm remains credible and effective.

The RMAF had around 60 warplanes as of 2012, and a substantial number of helicopters that were able to undertake combat operations as well as performing general support tasks. The air force’s inventory was being upgraded and swelled by new purchases, such as four Alenia Aeronautica C-27J Spartan transport aircraft. The Moroccan Air Force was also upgrading 27 of its Dassault Mirage F1s under the MF2000 project, which was giving them a capability similar to that of the Mirage 2000-5. The first upgraded aircraft flew in 2009.

By 2016 Morocco’s air force had two squadrons of elderly F-5 fighters, and two squadrons of slightly newer Mirage F1s. The T-37 light jets served as intermediate trainers. Rival Algeria flew MiG-23s of similar vintage, but also flewe SU-24 Fencer and SU-25 Frogfoot strike aircraft. Algeria also had modern and capable MiG-29s, and was receiving multi-role SU-30MKAs as part of a multi-billion dollar weapons deal with Russia. Morocco did not have plans to match the Algerian force, but was looking for replacement aircraft and upgrades that would prevent complete overmatch.

AH-64 Apache

By 2018 Morocco had entered into negotiations with the US to purchase the main attack aircraft of the US army, the “AH-64 Apache.” The negotiations took place in July 2018 when the inspector general of Morocco’s Royal Armed Forces (FAR), Abdelfattah Louarak, visited Washington, DC, to meet US Department of Defense officials. Morocco also wants to acquire the Turkish T-129 ATAK helicopter. A FAR delegation visited the Ankara-based Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI) headquarters in June to discuss the possibility of purchasing T-129 Atak helicopters.

On November 20, 2019 the State Department made a determination approving a possible Foreign Military Sale to Morocco of thirty-six (36) AH-64E Apache attack helicopters and related equipment for an estimated cost of $4.25 billion. The Defense Security Cooperation Agency delivered the required certification notifying Congress of this possible sale on November 19, 2019.

The Government of Morocco requested a possible sale of thirty-six (36) AH-64E Apache attack helicopters (24 new, 12 optional); seventy-nine (79) T700-GE-701D engines (72 installed, 6 spares); thirty-six (36) AN/ASQ-170 Modernized Target Acquisition and Designation Sight/AN/AAR-11 Modernized Pilot Night Vision Sensors (M-TADS/PNVS); eighteen (18) AN/APG-78 Fire Control Radars (FCR) with Radar Electronic Units (REU); eighteen (18) AN/APR-48B Modernized - Radar Frequency Interferometers (MRFI); five hundred fifty-one (551) AGM-114R Hellfire missiles (441 new, 110 optional); sixty (60) AGM-114L Hellfire missiles; seventy-two (72) M36E9 Hellfire Captive Air Training Missiles (CATM); five hundred eighty-eight (588) Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System (APKWS) kits (478 installed, 110 optional); seventy-eight (78) Embedded Global Positioning Systems with Inertial Navigation (EGIs) (72 installed, 6 spares); thirty-nine (39) AAR-57 Common Missile Warning Systems (CMWS) (36 installed, 3 spares); and two hundred (200) AIM-92H Stinger missiles.

Also included are twenty-one (21) Manned-Unmanned Teaming-2 (MUMT-2) video receivers (18 installed, 3 spares); thirty-nine (39) Manned-Unmanned Teaming-2 (MUMT-2) air-air-ground kits (36 installed, 3 spares); thirty-nine (39) AN/APR-39D(V)2 radar signal detecting sets (36 installed, 3 spares); thirty-nine (39) AN/AVR-2B laser detecting sets (36 installed, 3 spares); thirty-nine (39) AN/APX-123 or AN/APX-123A common transponders (36 installed, 3 spares); thirty-nine (39) IDM-401 Improved Data Modems (36 new, 3 spares); six (6) Link-16 terminals; thirty-nine (39) Improved Countermeasure Dispensing System (ICMD) (36 installed, 3 spares); thirty-nine (39) AN/ARN-149 (V)3 automatic direction finders (36 installed, 3 spares); thirty-nine (39) Doppler ASN-157 Doppler radar velocity sensors (36 installed, 3 spares); thirty-nine (39) AN/APN-209 radar altimeters (36 installed, 3 spares); thirty-nine (39) AN/ARN-153 Tactical Air Navigation (TACAN) sets (36 installed, 3 spares); four (4) TACAN ground stations; thirty-six (36) Very High Frequency Omni-Directional Range/Instrument Landing Systems (VOR/ILS) (36 installed, 3 new); twelve (12) AN/PYQ-10(C) simple key loader (12 new); thirty-six (36) M230E1 + M139 AWS automatic gun (36 new); eighty-one (81) M261 rocket launchers (72 new, 9 spares); seventy-eight (78) M299 missile launchers (72 new, 6 spares); fifty-three (53) Stinger Air-to-Air launchers (53 new); twenty-nine (29) Stinger Captive Flight Trainers (CFT) (29 new); eight (8) Stinger Aerial Handling Trainers (AHT) (8 new); five thousand two hundred sixteen (5,216) 2.75-inch rockets (3,896 new, 1,320 optional); ninety-three thousand (93,000) 30mm rounds (65,500 new, 27,500 optional);

Also included are secure voice radios; training devices; communication systems; helmets; simulators; generators; transportation and organization equipment; spare and repair parts; support equipment; tools and test equipment; technical data and publications; personnel training and training equipment; U.S. Government and contractor technical assistance, technical and logistics support services; and other related elements of logistics support. The estimated cost is $4.25 billion.

This proposed sale will support the foreign policy and national security of the United States by helping to improve the security of a major Non-NATO ally that is an important force for political stability and economic progress in North Africa. The proposed sale will improve Morocco's capability to meet current and future threats, and will enhance interoperability with U.S. forces and other allied forces. Morocco will use the enhanced capability to strengthen its homeland defense and provide close air support to its forces. Morocco will have no difficulty absorbing the Apache aircraft into its armed forces. The proposed sale of this equipment and services will not alter the basic military balance in the region.

The prime contractors involved in this program will be Boeing Company, Mesa, AZ and Lockheed Martin, Orlando, FL. There are no known offset agreements proposed in connection with this potential sale. The purchaser typically requests offsets. Any offset agreement will be defined in negotiations between the purchaser and the contractor(s).

Morocco is the 17th country to acquire the Boeing AH-64 Apache through a contract for 24 of the helicopters that was signed in June 2020. To date, Boeing had delivered nearly 2,500 Apache helicopters to 16 nations, including the U.S., Netherlands, Greece, United Kingdom, Japan, India, Singapore, South Korea and Saudi Arabia. Deliveries to Morocco were expected to begin in 2024. “This is another step forward in our long partnership with the Kingdom of Morocco,” said Jeff Shockey, vice president, Global Sales and Marketing, Boeing Defense, Space and Security and Government Services. “Worldwide demand for the Apache is growing and we are proud to provide this best-in-class capability to Morocco.”

The AH-64E Apache is the latest configuration of the attack helicopter. It is designed and equipped with an open systems architecture including the latest communications, navigation, sensor and weapon systems. It has an improved modernized target acquisition designation system that provides day, night and all-weather target information, as well as night vision navigation capability. In addition to classifying ground and air targets, the fire control radar has been updated to operate in a maritime environment.

The Boeing Co., Mesa, Arizona, was awarded a $439,179,677 modification (P00062) to contract W58RGZ-16-C-0023 on 25 June 2020 for new-build Apache AH-64E aircraft and Longbow crew trainers. Work will be performed in Mesa, Arizona, with an estimated completion date of March 1, 2025. Fiscal 2020 Foreign Military Sales (Morocco) funds in the amount of $439,179,677 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Redstone Arsenal, Alabama, is the contracting activity.

Rafale

In 2007 Morocco was studying various options, which included the F-16, the French Rafale, and the British Eurofighter. The Royal Moroccan Air Force (RMAF) express Moroccan interest in purchasing the F-16 fighter jet, and that the RMAF did not fully support "a political decision" to purchase the French Rafale. The RMAF submitted 14 March 2007 a formal Letter of Request for Price and Availability; however, the the F-16 inquiry had to be put on hold because there was a resurgence of political pressure from the highest levels to buy the French Rafale. Morocco selected the F-16 in 2007, picking the U.S. aircraft over the Rafale. Morocco is the 25th nation to buy the F-16, the world's most widely flown jet fighter.

French President Sarkozy's 22-24 October 2007 visit to Morocco was viewed as a success by both sides. Sarkozy essentially conceded the loss of the sale of French Rafale fighters to a "better offer" to Morocco for US F-16s. The proposal, which has been under study since 2004, was apparently seized on as a centerpiece for the visit once it became apparent that Rabat was determined to proceed with purchase of American F-16 fighters rather than the French Rafale, though the project is not expected to be commissioned until 2013. Perhaps chastened by the Rafale experience, the French president told French attendees at a Moroccan-French economic forum in Marrakech on the last day of his visit that they cannot rest on their laurels. Instead they must aggressively outbid and outhustle the competition, conceding (according to the Moroccan press) that if the French lost the Rafale aircraft deal, "it is because the Americans made a better offer." Responding to a press question Sarkozy proudly defended his good relations with the US. Other military contracts concluded during the visit included the sale of a French frigate and the upgrade of 25 Puma helicopters and 140 armored vehicles.

The Rafale debacle had been a shock but not the first or necessarily the last. France had long ago learned that it needed to work more effectively in the face of American competition and had set up an interagency "rapid reaction cell" to coordinate France,s response to similar competition in the future some time earlier. The feverish manner in which the French press reported the Moroccan decision not to buy the Rafale made it appear that it had caused the government to set up this working group.