Israel Aerospace Industries got $22m from Morocco, reportedly for kamikaze drones - Israel News - Haaretz.com
Israeli Aerospace Industries received $22 million this year in a deal with Morocco, Haaretz has learned. This comes amid foreign reports that Israel would sell Harop loitering munitions, known as kamikaze drones, to Morocco. IAI replied that it cannot comment on sales in Africa.
Last month the Defense News weekly published reports, based on sources in Morocco, that Israel intends to sell the country these drones as part of the normalization between the two countries. The Africa Intelligence website reported in September that Israel and Morocco are planning a joint venture of kamikaze drone manufacturing in Morocco.
The IAI Harop drone is an unmanned “suicide” aircraft, 2.5 meters long with a three-meter wingspan. According to various reports, the craft is used by Israel, India, and Azerbaijan. The Harop carries some 20 kg of explosives and can stay aflight for up to seven hours, with a range of up to 1,000 kilometers. The drone is capable of locking on a target, diving, and exploding on it.
Last week, Defense Minister Benny Gantz visited Morocco, signing a security cooperation agreement with his counterpart, Moroccan Defense Minister Abdellatif Loudiyi. The agreement, signed a year after Morocco and Israel announced establishment of diplomatic relations, also included the signing and promotion of weapons deals.
Defense Minister Benny Gantz with his Moroccan counterpart, Abdellatif Loudiyi, last week.Credit: Ariel Hermoni/Defense Ministry
Documentation of this can be found in IAI financial reports for the third quarter of 2021, submitted last week to the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange. According to the report, the aircraft division of the corporation registered revenues of $12 million in the third quarter and $10 million in the second quarter. Sources familiar with the details told Haaretz that these are new deals with Morocco. In 2019 and 2020 the IAI aircraft division sold nothing to Africa.
Last year documentation was publicized showing the drone in action in the war between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the separatist Armenian enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh, within Azeri borders. This was the first time the drone was seen clearly during an offensive action, as the Azeris have formerly claimed to have purchased only defensive weapons from Israel.
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Reporting for the investigative journalism TV show “Uvda” last year, Itay Engel visited Azerbaijan and showed how Israeli drones gave it the strategic edge – leading to defeat for Armenian forces. Israel has security interests with Azerbaijan, which shares a border with Iran. According to a report in the Al Jarida newspaper, the truck carrying the material taken from the Iranian nuclear archive crossed into Iran from Azerbaijan.
Morocco has a territorial dispute over Western Sahara with the independence-seeking Polisario Front resistance movement, and since the 1970s violent flareups have been endemic. As part of the Abraham Accords, the U.S. has agreed to acknowledge Morocco’s sovereignty over the region. Now Israeli arms can help Morocco deepen its control of the area.