New planes for the Royal Air Forces

According to The Confidentialdelivery is scheduled for 2027, a year during which the Moroccan Air Force should also receive 25 American F-16 Block 70/72Viper aircraft, ordered in 2019 for 3.59 billion euros. In total, the Royal Air Forces will have 55 new aircraft and will see their capacity increase by 62%. “The new aircraft will be added to the 40 Mirage F1s, 26 F-5s and 24 F-16s that they already operate. This air combat power will allow it to better compete with its great adversary, Algeria,” reports the Spanish media.

Read: Emirates Mirage 2000-9: why Morocco will have to wait until 2027

Abu Dhabi would have to obtain approval from the French government before sending the Mirage 2000-9s to Morocco, a procedure underway since the end of 2021. At the time, relations between Paris and Rabat were tense due, among other things, to alleged spying on the cell phones of President Emmanuel Macron and his ministers using Pegasus software. Relations between the two countries normalized after the French president’s state visit to Rabat at the end of last October, which undoubtedly led France to approve this transfer.

Read: Morocco to receive 30 Mirage 2000-9 planes from the United Arab Emirates

For its part, Algeria wishes to acquire from Russia, its privileged partner, the Sukhoi Su-57, a fifth generation stealth fighter. The Algerian army already has 70 Sukhoi Su-30MKAs, 36 Sukhoi Su-24s and 25 MiG-29S. The arms race between Morocco and Algeria is intensifying. The two neighboring countries have steadily increased their defense budgets over the past decade.