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Rabat – Morocco’s army has reportedly received for testing a KC-390 Millennium, a twin-engine, jet-powered military transport aircraft, reports indicated earlier this week.
La Razon, a Spanish news outlet, said on Tuesday that Morocco received the aircraft for testing purposes, pending a potential acquisition agreement between Morocco and Brazilian multinational aerospace company Embraer.
“It is the largest aircraft that the company has manufactured to date,” La Razon added, noting that the price for one unit is estimated at $150 million compared to $130 million for its “main competitors.”
Morocco has in recent years engaged in upgrading its military equipment with cutting-edge technologies.
Heavily investing in the military sector, the country has received advanced equipment from different suppliers, mainly the US.
One of the latest acquisitions includes the “HIMARS” missile system, surpassing half a billion dollars last year.
In November 2023, Morocco’s Royal Navy also received four “52 Fearless Super Interceptor” speedboats from American manufacturer Metal Shark.
The North African country allocated $12.88 billion to the defense industry as part of its 2024 finance law.
Article 37 of the finance bill shows that the government is allocating the budget under the “acquisition and repair of materials for the Royal Armed Forces” and support for the defense industry development.
With this budget, Morocco added nearly MAD 5 billion ($484.7 million) to its defense portfolio, compared to 2023, when the country’s defense budget was estimated at MAD 119.76 billion ($11.6 billion).
News of Morocco’s potential acquisition of state-of-the-art defense equipment from Brazil comes in the wake of the 2024 Global Firepower Index, which ranked the North African country 61st out of 145 countries with a Power Index score of 1.0081.
