Rabat ordered in April a total of 13 Bayraktar TB2 combat drones “as part of the modernization of the FAR arsenal in order to prepare to face any danger and the recent hostilities”, indicated the Far-Maroc forum, specialized on issues.
(Rabat) Morocco took delivery in mid-September of a first-order for Turkish combat drones, according to the Far-Maroc Forum, an unofficial Facebook page of the Moroccan Armed Forces (FAR), reported by several local media.
Posted on September 24, 2021, at 4:45 p.m.
Rabat ordered in April a total of 13 Bayraktar TB2 combat drones “as part of the modernization of the FAR arsenal in order to prepare to face any danger and the recent hostilities”, indicated the Far-Maroc forum, specialized on issues.
A Turkish-made Bayraktar TB2 combat drone, deployed by the Moroccan Air Force.
This delivery comes amid a diplomatic crisis between Algeria and Morocco – the two neighboring and rival powers of the Maghreb – caused by the dispute over Western Sahara.
The recent normalization of diplomatic relations between Morocco and Israel – in return for an American recognition of Moroccan “sovereignty” over this territory – has further heightened tensions with Algeria, a fervent supporter of the Palestinian cause.
Following the contract with the Turkish company Baykar, amounting to $ 70 million according to a figure mentioned by the press, Moroccan military personnel has followed a training program in Turkey in recent weeks, the specialized site said.
The private company Baykar, headed by a son-in-law of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has already exported the Bayraktar TB2, its flagship model, to Ukraine, Qatar and Azerbaijan in recent years.
Morocco already uses unmanned planes for intelligence and border surveillance, according to military experts in that country.
Last April, one of the leaders of the Saharawi separatists of the Polisario Front was killed following a Moroccan drone strike, according to some information not officially confirmed.
After almost 30 years of ceasefire, hostilities between Polisario and Morocco resumed in mid-November after the deployment of Moroccan troops to the far south of Western Sahara to dislodge separatists who were blocking the only road to Africa from the West because this road axis is, according to them, illegal.
All attempts to resolve the conflict have so far failed.
Rabat, which controls nearly 80% of Western Sahara, a vast desert territory where major Moroccan development projects have been launched in recent years, is proposing an autonomy plan under its sovereignty.
The Polisario is calling for a self-determination referendum under the auspices of the UN scheduled for the signing of a ceasefire between the belligerents in September 1991.
