Morocco’s Royal Armed Forces have expanded their AH-64E Apache attack helicopter fleet to 18 aircraft following delivery of a new batch of six airframes from Boeing’s Mesa, Arizona facility, transported aboard US Air Force C-17 Globemaster III airlifters. The delivery follows earlier tranches received in March 2025 and spring 2026, and forms part of a baseline order of 24 airframes with an option for 12 more, under a Foreign Military Sales contract that could expand Morocco’s total acquisition to $4.25 billion.
In its notification to the US Congress, Washington defended the
transfer on geostrategic grounds, describing it as reinforcing Morocco’s status as a ‘major non-NATO ally’ and supporting stability across North Africa. Boeing’s defense division said the platform gives Rabat precision targeting capability and tactical interoperability with Western militaries, while Moroccan military officials described the acquisition as meeting long-term requirements for border security and deterrence.
To support the aircraft, Morocco upgraded Khouribga Air Base, roughly 130 kilometers southeast of Casablanca, with more than 160,000 square meters of climate-controlled hangars, hardened dispersal bays, underground ordnance storage and a training wing with two full mission simulators — infrastructure designed to protect the helicopters’ sensitive avionics and radar from the region’s heat and dust.
The Moroccan Apaches feature a distinctive multi-tone desert camouflage, distinct from the standard olive-drab livery used by other operators, drawing on lessons from Royal Moroccan Air Force operations in Western Sahara during the 1970s and 1980s. The aircraft carry AN/APG-78 Longbow fire-control radar, Hellfire and APKWS guided munitions, and Stinger air-to-air missiles, and can network with Morocco’s F-16 Block 52+ fighters and its uncrewed aerial systems via NATO-standard datalinks.
The AH-64E replaces Morocco’s aging fleet of roughly two dozen French-made Gazelle light helicopters, which lacked heavy armour and modern targeting systems. With the new deliveries, Morocco joins Egypt as one of only two African operators of the AH-64E platform.
