Pentagon announced on December 18th that the US will do a major sales of war material to Morocco. The agreement entails sales of 24 F-16 combat aircrafts, at a value of 2400 million dollars, as well as 24 T-6B Texan training aircrafts for 140 million. "An important force for political stability and economic progress in North Africa", they state about Morocco.
"The proposed sale will contribute to the foreign policy and national security objectives of the United States by enhancing Moroccos capacity to support U.S. efforts in the Global War on Terrorism (GWOT), as well as supporting Moroccos legitimate need for its own self-defense. Morocco is one of the most stable and pro-Western of the Arab states, and the U.S. remains committed to a long-term relationship with Morocco", one of the statements read.
"[Morocco is...] an important force for political stability and economic progress in North Africa", the other statement reads.
They do not mention in the statements that Morocco has violated more than 100 UN resolutions through its illegal and brutal occupation of Western Sahara, and that they refuse to arrange a referendum for the Sahrawi people, as the UN demands.
Earlier this year, it was revealed that Morocco was close to sign an agreement with the French aviation company Dassault. That agreement has not materialised.
Through this purchase, the Moroccan air force will in stead get a modern version of F-16, of the same kind as is used by the US. Before the sales can be carried out, it must be approved by the US Congress.
Many people interpret Morocco's purchase as an answer to the rival country Algeria's weapon purchase agreements with Russia in 2006.
The announcement of the coming US-Moroccan agreement was done on the homepages of Defence Security Cooperation Agency. Download the statements here: On the F-16s. Onj the training aircrafts.
The most important contractors for the F-16 agreement are:
BAE Advanced Systems (Greenlawn, New York)
Boeing Corporation (Seattle, Washington)
Boeing Integrated Defense Systems (St Louis, Missouri og Long Beach, California og San Diego, California)
Raytheon Company (Lexington, Massachusetts og Goleta, California)
Raytheon Missile Systems (Tucson, Arizona)
Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Company (Fort Worth, Texas)
Lockheed Martin Missile and Fire Control (Dallas, Texas)
Northrop-Grumman Electro-Optical Systems (Garland, Texas)
Northrop-Grumman Electronic Systems (Baltimore, Maryland)
General Electric Aircraft Engines (Cincinnati, Ohio)
Goodrich ISR Systems (Danbury, Connecticut)
L3 Communications (Arlington, Texas)
Pratt & Whitney United Technology Company (East Hartford, Connecticut)
The most important contractors for the T-6B Texan training aircraft agreement are:
Hawker Beechcraft Corporation (Wichita, Kansas), Pratt & Whitney Corporation (Quebec, Canada og Bridgeport, West Virginia), Martin Baker (Middlesex, United Kingdom), Hartzel Propeller (Pique, Ohio), Canadian Marconi (Broken Arrow, Oklahoma) og L-3 Vertex (Madison, Mississippi).
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