Morocco joins list of World’s 20 most powerful artilleries

The modernization of Morocco’s land forces enabled the Royal Armed Forces to take the 20th position in a list of armies with the largest and most advanced artillery arsenals.

Using data from the Stockholm Peace Institute and other defense sources, US portal Insider Monkey listed Morocco as the 20th most powerful artillery, citing the upcoming delivery of HIMARS artillery rocket systems, worth 524 million dollars.

It said Morocco had a total 1,079 artillery units including 565 self-propelled artillery, 306 towed and 208 rocket projectors.

Morocco has one of the largest armies in Africa and has fought from the late 1970s to the 1990s a war with Algerian proxies the Polisario.

The war in Ukraine highlighted the critical role of artillery in modern warfare, leading to a booming of output in main military powerhouses.

General Dynamics Corporation has stepped up its production of artillery from 14,000 to 20,000 rounds per month, according to Insider Monkey, which said that the company has benefited from the military assistance offered by the United States for Ukraine, which has included the 155- millimeter artillery replacements that have been pivotal to Kyiv’s fightback against Russian advancements.

Russia has also been producing more artillery arsenal to meet the needs of its war effort in Ukraine.

According to a Reuters report, Russia has been producing three times more the amount of artillery ammunition than all of Europe and the US combined.

HIMARS, which Morocco ordered, has been tested in Ukraine luring other European purchasers. Germany’s Rheinmetall has partnered with Lockheed Martin Corporation to build GMARS, which would be similar to but larger than HIMARS.

Last year in February, Washington approved the sale of HIMARS, ATACMS, and other ammunition worth $10 billion to Poland. Lithuania is also purchasing eight M142 HIMARS from Lockheed Martin Corporation for $495 million, as part of an agreement reached in late 2022.