IDEX: Could Morocco be the first in MENA race for the F-35

There were indications from the early days of the Abraham Accord that Israel could lift its objections to air forces such as the UAE and eventually Saudi Arabia getting their hands on the aircraft.

A third MENA country also had the F-35 on its shopping list – and that was Morocco.

F-35 sales in the region have always been limited by a U.S. policy to support qualitative Israeli defence superiority in the region – a policy that delayed previous-generation fleet sales in the region and kept the Israeli military a step ahead of its neighbours.

But according to analysts at Aviation Week Network, rumours have begun to swirl suggesting that a Moroccan F-35 deal may come within months and include 32 F-35s, which would make Morocco the first non-Israeli F-35 operator in the MENA region and opening the door for future sales to the Arab world.

Israeli and U.S. officials had supported a bid by the North African kingdom to buy the F-35 five years ago, but the contract was never signed before President Donald Trump’s time in office came to an end.

His return has heralded a revival in the Moroccan plan.

According to Aviation Week forecasts, Morocco’s current fighter fleets feature a mix of Block 52+ C and D tails that will soon be upgraded to the block 72 V standard, as a fleet of 24 new-build Vipers enters service alongside them. 

Israel – which will operate 100 F-35Is by 2035 – will maintain its qualitative edge through more advanced (and timelier) upgrades, while Morocco will field a larger fleet of Lockheed Martin’s fifth-generation fighter than Spain, Portugal, Singapore, Romania, Czech Republic, Greece, or Denmark.

If signed, the prospective deal would open the door to additional non-Israeli F-35 sales in a deep-pocketed region that Lockheed Martin officials surely have been waiting to break into.