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The Boeing AGM-84L Harpoon Block II missiles that the United States approved for Morocco’s Royal Air Force to purchase are the «non-coastal target suppression» version, the US Federal Register revealed on Monday.
«This reduction in capability was not mentioned when the Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) announced on 14 April that the US State Department had approved the sale of 10 AGM-84Ls for an estimated USD62 million for use by the RMAF's F-16 multirole fighters», Janes reports.
The same source added that «AGM-84L was designed to have a substantially improved ability to find target ships sailing close to shore or in congested waters».
A note from the United States Federal Register recalls that the «Harpoon missile is a non-nuclear tactical weapon system currently in service in the U.S. Navy and in 29 other foreign nations». It explains that «version being sold to Morocco is a Non-Coastal Target Suppression land attack weapon».
The reaction of the US sounds like a response to Spain’s fears. The country has voiced its worries before, saying that the «sale of anti-ship missiles is extremely worrying» in a letter by Ciudadanos MP José Ramón Bauzá sent earlier in April to the chairmen of the Foreign Affairs committees at the US House of Representatives and the Senate.
For the record, Morocco to pay $62 million for ten Harpoon Block II AGM-84L missiles.
