chargement...
The U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee has advanced a provision in the proposed Fiscal Year 2027 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that would turn the recently signed U.S.-Morocco Roadmap for Defense Cooperation (2026–2036) into a concrete Pentagon strategy.
The bill, made public in June, requires the Secretary of Defense to submit, within 180 days of the law's enactment, «a plan to enhance United States defense cooperation with Morocco, consistent with the United States-Morocco Roadmap for Defense Cooperation for 2026 through 2036». It also requires the Pentagon to submit the full roadmap to the Senate and House Armed Services Committees within 30 days of the law's enactment.
While the roadmap itself has not been made public, the bill offers the clearest picture yet of its priorities.
It first calls for examining «options for establishing cooperative security locations in Morocco» to «promote regional stability and optimize joint readiness to respond to crises». The legislation also seeks «a roadmap to deepen collaborative counterterrorism cooperation» to address threats facing the United States, Morocco and the wider region.
The bill goes on to outline measures to strengthen joint military readiness. These include studying a cost-sharing plan to refurbish strategic air command runways formerly operated by the United States in Morocco, supporting the modernization of the Royal Armed Forces through U.S. defense procurement, and establishing an all-domain range complex.
A drone center of excellence in Morocco
Another key proposal is the creation of «a drone center of excellence in Morocco for joint all-domain operations» that would serve as «a model of tech-driven partnerships for the future of warfighting».
The roadmap's priorities also extend to joint military exercises. The bill calls for expanding drills such as African Lion to include cybersecurity, drone and counter-drone operations, undersea technologies, hybrid warfare, critical infrastructure protection, logistics and mobility chains, as well as adaptation to adversarial use of artificial intelligence and autonomous warfighting capabilities.
For the record, the roadmap was signed at the Pentagon on April 16 by U.S. Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Elbridge Colby and Morocco's Minister Delegate for National Defense Abdellatif Loudiyi, in the presence of Lieutenant General Mohammed Berrid, Inspector General of the Royal Armed Forces. At the time, Colby said the agreement «will guide our historic defense relationship for the next decade» and «build on a partnership that began 250 years ago when Morocco was the first nation to recognize the United States».
