- Military characteristics of Morocco
- Increased investment in defense
Morocco ranks 59th in the world in terms of military power, according to the latest GlobalFirepower report.
The Moroccan kingdom has planned 135 billion dirhams ($13 billion) for its 2025 defense budget. This demonstrates the strong desire of the Moroccan kingdom to strengthen its military potential.
The latest report from GlobalFirepower ranks Morocco 59th among the most powerful armies in the world in 2025, out of 145 countries assessed. Since 2006, GlobalFirepower has provided an analytical overview of data on these 145 military powers tested.
GlobalFirepower’s ranking is based on each country’s ability to wage land, sea and air warfare using conventional weapons.
The results provided incorporate values related to manpower, equipment, natural resources, finances and geography, represented by more than 60 factors used to formulate the final rankings, providing an overview of the global wrestling landscape against the war.
This index is most important in situations of major war tensions such as those we are currently experiencing, with war scenarios that have recently occurred in enclaves such as Ukraine or the Middle East.
With a power index of 1.1273, knowing that a lower score reflects greater strength, Morocco continues to increase its military capacity compared to other global arms powers. In this regard, there has been a marked improvement from the 61st place it occupied in 2024. This year’s GlobalFirepower report highlights the North African country’s steady progress in improving its military power.
The top of the ranking is currently occupied, as expected, by the United States, with a score of 0.0744, followed by Russia, with 0.0788, and China, with the same score as the Russian nation. India, South Korea, the United Kingdom, France, Japan, Turkey and Italy complete the top 10.
Algeria, Morocco’s great political rival in the Maghreb, is ranked 26th globally, a fact to keep in mind as there is always a comparison between the two neighboring Maghreb nations, which are going through a period of very diplomatic relations. tense due to political clashes, such as that linked to the position on the sovereignty of Western Sahara, claimed by the Moroccan kingdom, while the Algerian state supports the organization of a referendum on the independence of the Sahrawi population. Tensions in the territory have also resulted in small-scale armed clashes that are testing existing military capabilities.
Morocco is the seventh country on the African continent in terms of military potential by 2025, after Egypt (19th), Algeria (26th), South Africa (40th), Nigeria (36th), Ethiopia (52nd) and Angola (56th).
Military characteristics of Morocco
The Royal Moroccan Armed Forces (FAR) have 195,800 active military personnel, 150,000 reservists and 50,000 paramilitary personnel.
-Nearly 18 million people are available for military service, which constitutes an important reservoir for recruitment and mobilization, notes the report.
The Moroccan air force has 13,500 men, the army 175,000 and the royal navy 7,800.
Moroccan land forces have a considerable arsenal: 903 tanks, 7,877 armored vehicles, 396 self-propelled artillery systems, 153 towed artillery units and 129 mobile rocket launchers.
The Royal Moroccan Air Force has 260 aircraft, including 83 combat aircraft, two refueling aircraft, 31 air transport aircraft and 78 helicopters.
The Royal Moroccan Navy has a fleet including six frigates, one corvette and 105 patrol boats, although it is missing some elements such as submarines, destroyers and helicopter carriers.
Increased investment in defense
Morocco has planned 135 billion dirhams ($13 billion) for its 2025 defense budget, a sign of the importance that this North African country places on its army and the country’s defense.
This increase in funds makes it possible to acquire new military equipment that will allow the Moroccan national defense industry to continue to develop in the face of threats in the region and on a global scale. All in cooperation with global powers such as the United States, Israel, the United Arab Emirates and France, which are among the world’s leading military powers.
To illustrate this dynamic of growth and international cooperation in military equipment, Morocco will receive 30 Mirage 2000-9 fighters from the United Arab Emirates. France, which produces these planes, had vetoed their transfer, but recently accepted the transfer to Morocco thanks to the improvement in French-Moroccan diplomatic relations, which benefited from France’s decision to support the plan. Morocco’s autonomy for Western Sahara. The Royal Moroccan Air Force is expected to receive its first Mirage 2000-9 fighter in 2027, precisely when the Emirates will get the 80 Rafale jets purchased from France
In addition, according to local media, Morocco will receive in the coming months the 32 F-35 fighters that it ordered from the American company Lockheed Martin. With the acquisition of these F-35s, Morocco will become the first African country to have a fleet of this type of latest generation American fighters.
This is in addition to cooperation in terms of military equipment with another important Middle Eastern country, Israel. With which there have been technological exchanges of important equipment, such as drones, thanks to the normalization of diplomatic relations occurring in the Abraham Accords, through which several Arab countries established diplomatic ties with the Israeli state under the under the aegis of the United States, with the aim of pacifying the region and promoting territorial development in the face of common enemies such as the Islamic Republic of Iran, criticized for its belligerence and interventionism in the internal affairs of several countries neighbors.
