In a precedent that is the first of its kind, Morocco will be the first country on the African continent to have HIMARS high-mobility artillery missile systems, missiles that are granted by the United States of America only under special conditions.
The US State Department agreed to provide the Royal Armed Forces with High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) and related equipment, at an estimated cost of $524.2 million.
In this context, Abd al-Rahman Makkawi, an expert in military affairs, said, “These missiles will enter Africa and the region for the first time. Even Egypt, which has the most powerful army on the African level, does not have it.”
Makkawi explained, in a statement to Hespress, that “these missiles are among the important and strategic weapons that America does not sell except under various political conditions and approvals from Congress, especially the Defense Committee and the Military Intelligence Committee, and it is also required to obtain the green light from the state secretariat in the US State Department.”
The military expert emphasized that America’s granting of these weapons to Morocco, and the rapid approval of this deal, highlights the strength of relations between the two countries, especially since the Kingdom is considered a strategic guard in the region.
As for the advantages of these missiles, Makkawi stated that “they have a deadly weapon due to the fact that it is fast-moving and has its own radar, with a range of 80 to 300 km,” stressing that it is considered an offensive weapon that proved its worth during the Ukrainian-Russian war.
Makkawi said, “The formation of the defenses of the Moroccan ground forces was in need of this type of missile,” explaining that Morocco’s acquisition of it at the present time is “only for defensive and deterrent reasons.”
The Moroccan government has ordered eighteen M142 High Mobility Rocket Launchers (HIMARS). forty units of M57 Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS); thirty-six M31A2 Single Launcher Multiple Launch Rocket Systems (GMLRS); thirty-six (thirty-six) M30A2 Guided Missiles; and forty) M28A2 Low Cost Low Range Portfolio Missile (LCRRPR); and radios with similar “SINCGARS” capability.
The Royal Armed Forces also ordered thirty-five Long Range Vehicle Radio Systems with GPS, and twenty-four individual radio, Long Range Vehicle System with GPS.
The 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 remains an important force for political stability and economic progress in Africa.