The North Africa Post
Morocco will become in 2021 the first country in Africa to use the F16 Viper fighter jets, a well-informed local news outlet reported.
An order has been placed by Morocco’s Royal Air Force to acquire 12 of the multi-purpose fighter jets, le360.ma reported.
“Morocco was one of the first African countries to express interest in acquiring a number of F16 Viper,” said US General Bill Fredericks in charge of the F16 program in a tweet.
The purchase will strengthen Morocco’s Royal Air Force ranking as one of the mightiest fleets in Africa.
Le360.ma said that the transaction was conducted in secrecy during a visit by a delegation of the Royal Armed Forces to the US last year.
A source has also told the website that Morocco will upgrade all its F16 fleets to be up to the Viper fighting falcons.
The country’s air force have been revamped with the reception of 24 F16 jets.
In December 2009, Morocco placed a $841.9 million contract with Lockheed Martin’s Aeronautics to purchase 18 single-seat F-16Cs and six two-seat F-16Ds, as part of a program to upgrade its armed forces.
Morocco’s F-16s are equipped with a variety of extra equipment, including Lockheed Martin Sniper targeting pods, Goodrich DB-110 airborne reconnaissance pods and Raytheon’s Advanced Countermeasures Electronic System (ACES).
Armament includes AIM-9X Block II Sidewinders with lock on after launch capability, AGM-65D Maverick air-to-surface missiles and Enhanced GBU-12 Paveway II laser guided bomb kits.
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