DOCUMENT. Drones, operational integration, sites: the strategic leap of the Morocco-USA military alliance

The Moroccan–American military partnership is poised for a qualitative and quantitative leap — quietly prepared and one that will open vast new opportunities for Morocco. 

Until now, military cooperation between the two countries had been guided by the 2020–2030 roadmap. However, four years before its expiry, that framework is being superseded by a new decade-long plan — the 2026–2036 roadmap — signed in April 2026 in Washington. While only broad outlines have been made public, the new roadmap is significantly more ambitious, aiming for deeper operational integration between the two armed forces. 

An official American report obtained by Médias24 outlines the main features of the new roadmap. It reveals that Morocco is set to occupy a prominent position within the network of alliances built by the United States.

The Legal Context

As part of the debate and adoption of the 2027 U.S. budget, Washington incorporated into the Army bill the cooperation program with Morocco for the 2026–2036 period. The budget must be finalized within six months at the latest.

The text imposes two obligations on the Secretary of Defense:

• Within 30 days: submit to Congress the 2026–2036 U.S.–Morocco military roadmap.
• Within 180 days: submit a detailed operational plan structured around five axes:

→ Options for establishing Cooperative Security Locations (CSLs) in Morocco. It should be noted that these are not military bases. In American military doctrine, they correspond to sites of light presence. Drawing on existing examples within the U.S. network, a CSL typically consists of a runway and hangars, fuel, ammunition, and equipment stocks, as well as bilateral agreements enabling very rapid access—within a few hours. Generally, few or no American personnel are permanently stationed there.

→ Counterterrorism: a roadmap to deepen cooperation against regional threats and within U.S. territory.

→ Joint operational readiness: renovation of former U.S. air bases, modernization of the Royal Armed Forces through American equipment, and establishment of a multi‑environment training complex.

→ Drone Center of Excellence: the regional hub for multi‑environment operations and an exportable model of technological partnership.  "Multi-environment" (All‑domain) refers to the simultaneous conduct of operations across all combat spaces — air, sea, land, space, and cyberspace.

The Moroccan drone center will not merely be a training base but a multi‑environment swarm coordination laboratory integrating AI, anti‑drone countermeasures, and future warfare doctrine. Morocco is strategically positioned for this role thanks to its dual Atlantic–Mediterranean frontage, its proximity to the Sahel, and its vast available spaces. 

Morocco will thus coordinate air-sea-land drone swarms in real-time, develop anti-drone countermeasures (a major issue in the Sahel), integrate artificial intelligence into tactical decision-making, and serve as a doctrine laboratory for future wars.

→ Expanded exercises: xpansion of African Lion to include cyber, submarine, drone, hybrid warfare, artificial intelligence, and autonomous systems.

An Advanced Status

Since 2004, Morocco has held the status of major non‑NATO ally — a designation granted to about twenty countries worldwide — and, like a select few, has benefited from a bilateral military cooperation roadmap.

Most importantly, this military cooperation, in its new form (2026–2036 roadmap), will be enshrined in the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) — the annual law that sets the budget and defense priorities of the United States.

Three Technical Pillars

The roadmap emphasizes interoperability, real-time data sharing, and joint operation planning. Here are the three pillars:

→ The Link-16 system

It is the most concrete and unprecedented element: Morocco becomes the first African partner to reach this level of integration. As the backbone of NATO interoperability, Link‑16 enables all connected platforms — ships, aircraft, ground stations, and command centers — to share a common operational picture in real time, including the positions of friendly and detected units, target trajectories, threat data, and encrypted voice and text communications.

Integration was tested on February 3, 2026, at the final planning meeting of African Lion in Agadir, where secure Link‑16 communications were established between Moroccan and American terminals.

→ Industrial Co-Production

The agreement formally institutionalizes co-production, building on a solid foundation: Moroccan Law 10-20 of June 2021 on the defense industry, the creation of dedicated industrial acceleration zones, Morocco's inclusion in the F-16 Block 72 supply chain, and the establishment of the Aero Maintenance Hub Morocco in Benslimane, a joint venture involving Lockheed Martin, SABCA, and Sabena Aerospace, operational by the end of 2026. Lockheed Martin also confirmed in April 2025 its intention to establish in Morocco a hub for manufacturing military aeronautical components.

→ Cybersecurity

The shared protocols, detection architectures, and incident response systems will be American. For critical infrastructure such as Tanger Med, whose management systems generate vast data flows on global trade, this dimension carries major strategic significance.

Strait

The new Moroccan–American military roadmap should be understood in light of two key factors: the United States’ rivalry with China and Russia, and the strategic imperative of securing the Strait of Gibraltar.

Washington is likely engaging in a preventive consolidation of control over the Strait of Gibraltar, a critical maritime node in the global economy, amid systemic Sino-American competition. Morocco, which holds around 70% of the world’s phosphate reserves and hosts Tanger Med — the leading port in Africa and strategically located on the strait — is a key piece of this equation.

Here are facsimiles of the American document:

Coopération militaire : une nouvelle feuille de route Maroc–USA 2026-2036, une intégration opérationnelle inédite entre les deux pays