(MENAFN- Morocco World News) ">Rabat – In a statement issued on November 7, the US Department of Defense announced that it contracted with DRS Network & Imaging Systems for $129 million in foreign military sales for six countries, including Morocco, to prepare military software.
DRS is to build several army systems: System technical support services, system sustainment technical support services, post production software support services for the direct support electrical system test set, embedded diagnostics, a software loader/verifier, a combined application platform, and power and diagnostics services.
The completion date according to the contract is set for November 6, 2023.
In a US Air Force contract issued on November 14, the defense department announced that L-3 Communications Vertex Aerospace LLC received $35,000,000 contract to give logistic support for the Air Force C-12 fleets around the world. The project work will be conducted in multiple countries, including in Morocco.
According to the statement, the work is estimated to be completed by December 31, 2018.
Morocco remains one of the largest importers of military equipment in Africa after Algeria, which mostly receive its equipment from Russia.
Morocco's primary supplier is the US. In October, Moroccan news outlets reported that Morocco will receive its first shipment of 12 F-16V fighting falcons in 2021.
In October, Global Firepower (GFP) ranked Morocco 55th among 136 countries in the 2018 military strength ranking.
GFP also said that Morocco owns 284 aircraft, including 56 fighters, 56 attack planes, and 130 helicopters.
Morocco also has at least 127 of the almost 200 Abrams M1A1 tanks it has ordered, according to Spanish news outlet Infodefensa. In 2015, Morocco ordered its tanks from the US. The order also included associated parts, equipment, logistical support, and training for over $1 billion.
In total, Morocco has 1,276 combat tanks, 2,384 armored fighting vehicles (AFV) and more than 700 artilleries of three different types: 448 self-propelled artilleries, 192 towed artilleries, and 72 rocket projectors.
In 2017, Morocco also launched the Mohammed VI-A satellite, launched from Kourou, in French Guiana, at the Centre Spatial Guyanais.
The satellite helps Morocco monitor its borders and track Polisario's activities east of Morocco's defense wall.
Capable of taking 500 images daily, the satellite is dedicated to high-resolution imaging, with high resolution Imager (HiRI) playloads that can give a resolution of up to 70 centimeters and 28 inches.
The French satellite launching company Arianespace reported Tuesday that Morocco will launch a second surveillance satellite, Mohammed VI-B on November 21, to increase its aerial surveillance.
The satellite will also be launched from Kourou, French Guiana.
MENAFN1711201801600000ID1097707601
Legal Disclaimer:
MENAFN provides the information “as is” without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the provider above.