The ‘Ofek 16’ spy satellite ahead of its launch in July (Photo Defense Ministry)
French newspaper La Tribune reported that Israel and Morocco finalized the billion-dollar defense deal in late 2023. The agreement involves Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) supplying an advanced satellite to Morocco within five years. This new satellite will replace Morocco’s existing Airbus satellites, Mohammed VI-A and Mohammed VI-B. Analysts believe this move is part of Morocco’s broader strategy to strengthen its air, land, and sea defenses.
Morocco is one of the four Arab nations that signed peace treaties with Israel as part of the 2020 Abraham Accords. The first two countries to join the Accords were the Arab Gulf States Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates. They were later joined by Morocco and Sudan.
Calcalist further reported that IAI Chairman Amir Peretz flew to Morocco via a European country to sign the deal and that he also promoted a deal for IAI’s Barak 8 missile system.
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The Barak 8 system, also known as LR-SAM (Long Range Surface-to-Air Missile) or MR-SAM (Medium Range Surface-to-Air Missile), is an advanced air and missile defense system jointly developed by Israel and India. The system protects against various aerial threats: aircraft, helicopters, drones (UAVs), anti-ship missiles, cruise missiles, and even ballistic missiles (depending on the variant).
The Barak 8 has a range of up to 100 kilometers (around 62 miles) for some versions and offers highly maneuverable missiles with dual-pulse rocket motors for effective target interception. It has both land-based and naval variants that are available to suit different deployment needs and it integrates advanced target acquisition and tracking systems to handle multiple threats simultaneously.
The system also employs a central command and control network for real-time situational awareness and coordinated defense.
Overall, the Barak 8 system provides a robust and versatile shield against a wide range of air attacks.
Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI), founded in 1953, is a major player in both the defense and commercial aerospace markets. IAI develops and manufactures a wide range of aerial and astronautic systems for both military and civilian applications. They specialize in solutions across various domains like space, air, land, naval, cyber & homeland defense.
Some well-known IAI products include the Arrow missile defense system, Heron unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), and Barak air defense systems.
