Join on WhatsApp
Join on Telegram
Doha – Morocco has become the first country in North Africa and the Middle East, after Israel, to manufacture advanced suicide drones, entering the club of drone manufacturers following its latest deal with Israel, according to reports by El Español and I24News.
According to I24News, the Israeli weapons company BlueBird, a subsidiary of Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) specializing in the design, development, and manufacture of drones, recently conducted the first field test of its new SpyX suicide drone in Morocco. The Royal Moroccan Armed Forces (FAR) are equipped with this drone, and the experimental operation was deemed a great success, as shown in a video posted on BlueBird’s website.
El Español described the mission as involving attacking a decommissioned Ratel IFV armored vehicle belonging to the FAR. The drone reached its target and collided with the armored vehicle, causing an explosion.
Designed for reconnaissance and attack missions, the SpyX drone has a range of 50 kilometers and can be deployed for an hour and a half.
According to both newspapers, its range and autonomy provide a series of operational advantages thanks to its target detection system, in addition to having a dual day/thermal sensor. This aircraft is also capable of reaching its enemies or targets at a speed of 250 kilometers per hour and can be carried and deployed by a crew of two soldiers.
I24News reported that Israeli media first mentioned the appearance of these drones in Morocco in June 2023, indicating that the FAR tested the drones and then purchased them in large quantities, making them the first army to integrate this type of drone after BlueBird introduced them just a few months earlier.
Read also: Morocco Receives First Shipments of Israel’s Barak MX Defense System
In September 2022, Morocco placed an order for 150 WanderB and ThunderB drones, also from BlueBird, according to both El Español and I24News. I24News further reported that in the same month, Morocco requested two Ofek-13 reconnaissance satellites from Israel to strengthen and modernize its surveillance and intelligence capabilities.
According to the annual report on the arms trade by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), published this month and cited by both El Español and I24News, Israel has become one of Morocco’s main arms suppliers, with 11% of Israeli weapons going to Morocco.
The data also showed that Israel is the third-largest arms supplier to Morocco. The country has significantly increased its imports from Israel since the signing of the Abraham Accords in December 2020, with bilateral cooperation growing, especially in the military and security domains.
The outbreak of war on Gaza has placed Morocco in a highly delicate position. While the North African country has vigorously condemned Israel’s brutal campaign in the Palestinian enclave, the Moroccan government has stopped short of heeding the call of outraged Moroccan protesters to freeze diplomatic relations with Israel.
At the same time, King Mohammed VI recently ordered the sending of emergency humanitarian aid to the Palestinian population in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, consisting of 30 tons of essential food products and 10 tons of emergency medicines and blankets.
According to El Español, Morocco considers it a religious and fraternal duty to support Palestinians while maintaining relations with Israel for the country’s territorial unity and economic development.
Rabat always refers to the “reestablishment of diplomatic relations” with Israel, rather than talking about normalization, which has been effective since December 2020, the newspaper explained.
Liaison offices have been reopened, but they do not have full representation of diplomatic services, despite Tel Aviv recognizing Morocco’s sovereignty over Western Sahara in July 2023, as part of the agreement reached with then-President Donald Trump.
