فاس نيوز ميديا جريدة الكترونية جهوية تعنى بشؤون و أخبار جهة فاس مكناس – متجددة على مدار الساعة
The U.S. Army’s Patriot air defense system has arrived in Morocco for field trials, in anticipation of finalizing the agreement for the Royal Moroccan Armed Forces (FAR), according to the Atlas Observatory for Defense and Armament.
The tests will take place at the main base of the Moroccan Air Defense Forces in Salé, the same source indicates.
The U.S. Department of Commerce announced in 2021 that Morocco was in advanced negotiations to acquire this advanced defense system. According to statements by the Vice President of the Air and Missile Defense Division at Lockheed Martin in the same year, Morocco is one of the countries that will acquire the latest version of the Patriot system, namely the PAC-3 MSE.
This highly anticipated agreement aims to strengthen the Moroccan air defense system against various types of threats, particularly ballistic ones. The Patriot system has demonstrated its effectiveness in several conflict zones around the world. In the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, for example, older versions, such as the PAC-2, have proven their ability to shoot down Russian fighters and missiles with high precision.
The Observatory expects that the final agreement for the acquisition of the Patriot system by the Royal Moroccan Armed Forces will be officially announced by the Defense Security Cooperation Agency of the U.S. Department of Defense, once the field trials, which have already begun in Morocco, are completed.
“This process is similar to that of the Apache helicopters, which were field-tested in Morocco in 2016 before the official signing of the agreement, as well as the HIMARS missile systems, which were repeatedly tested during the African Lion exercises before their official acquisition,” the Observatory recalls.
It is worth noting that the U.S. International Trade Administration announced in a note published in January 2021 that the FAR was interested in the medium-range anti-aircraft missile system manufactured by the U.S. company Raytheon and used by the U.S. Army, as well as several NATO countries.
The Patriot combines an advanced air interception missile system with one of the world’s most powerful radars (for target tracking). It is the first anti-aircraft weapon system to successfully engage a tactical ballistic missile in combat, and it is also the first to provide tactical anti-missile protection in operations.
