Morocco adds powerful U.S. rocket launchers & missiles to its military firepower

The Royal Armed Forces will receive the U.S. rocket launchers (HIMARS) and guided bombs (JSOW) that will enhance further Morocco’s military capabilities to encounter threats to its stability and regional peace.
On Tuesday, the U.S. Defense Security Cooperation Agency said the State Department has approved the sale to Morocco of 18 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) and related equipment and 40 JSOW guided air-to-surface missiles, in deals estimated at $542.2 million and $250 million respectively.

“The proposed sale will improve Morocco’s capability to meet current and future threats and will contribute to Morocco’s ability to detect threats and control its borders, contributing to the maintenance of regional stability and security. It will also enhance the interoperability of the Royal Armed Forces (FAR), which routinely exercises with U.S. forces, focusing on countering terrorism and Violent Extremist Organizations (VEOs) in the Maghreb and Sahel region. Morocco will have no difficulty absorbing these articles into its armed forces,” the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency said in a statement.

The acquisition would make Morocco the only North African country to possess such a potent satellite guided rocket launcher with a range of 300 kilometers that proved efficient in the Ukraine-Russia war.

“HIMARS is one of the world’s most advanced rocket artillery systems; its range is farther than anything the Ukrainians had, so when that was transferred, they did get the ability to strike targets deeper behind the front-lines and much more accurately,” according to Ian Williams, deputy director of CSIS’s Missile Defense Project.

Morocco wants to arm the HIMARS launchers with 40 M57 Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS) rounds; 36 M31A2 Guided Multiple Launch Rocket Systems (GMLRS) Unitary rounds; and 36 M30A2 Guided Multiple Launch Rocket Systems (GMLRS) Alternative Warhead rounds.

The HIMARS will add to the WS-2D multiple rocket launchers acquired from China five years ago. The WS-2D has a range of 400 km and can carry a 200 kg warhead. Up to six rockets can be launched from a single launcher. Morocco also acquired a dozen PHL-03 (AR-2) 300 mm multiple rocket launchers from China over a decade ago.