ISRAEL’S BLUEBIRD TO OPEN DRONE FACTORY IN MOROCCO

Thu 18 April 2024:

BlueBird Aero Systems, an Israeli firm that designs and manufactures tactical unmanned aerial systems (UAS), plans to establish a drone production plant in Morocco. In a recent report by Argentinian military news website Zona Militar, Ronen Nadir, CEO of BlueBird Aero Systems, confirmed the company’s plans, indicating that the local production site will begin operations soon.

The decision to open the industrial facility is consistent with the military cooperation agreement signed by Morocco and Israel in 2021, which includes provisions for the development of Morocco’s military sector using Israeli knowledge.

As part of its commitment to boost the sector, Morocco allocated $12.88 billion (approximately MAD 124.7 billion) to its defence industry this year.

In February last year, Rabat and Tel Aviv concluded a $500 million deal to provide the kingdom with the Barak MX air and missile defence system manufactured by Israel aerospace industries (IAI). Morocco also purchased the Skylock Dome anti-drone system from Israel in 2021.

According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), Israel is one of the top three arms suppliers to Morocco, accounting for 11% of the North African country’s military imports.

Morocco reestablished diplomatic relations with Israel in 2020 as part of the Abraham Accords, which were negotiated by the United States. However, even before normalizing the deal, Israel and Morocco had undeclared “special defense relations.”

-MEMO

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