The U.S. Department of Defense has approved an expansion of a contract, worth up to 520 million dollars, with Lockheed Martin Aeronautics, an aviation firm based in Texas, to equip Morocco’s new fleet of 25 F-16 fighter jets with the advanced Block 70/72 F-16 Viper Shield electronic warfare suite, according to a press release on Thursday.
The Block 70/72 F-16 Viper Shield system is an advanced electronic warfare suite that provides Morocco’s F-16s with self-protection capabilities and countermeasures against enemy threats, including signal jamming, threat detection, and defensive countermeasures.
The Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) approved the sale of 25 F-16 Block 72 aircraft to Morocco for $3.8 billion in 2019 with the most recent approval including the Viper Shield suite integration.
Production and integration are expected to be completed by June 30, 2028; the statement added.
This enhancement is part of a broader defense cooperation initiative involving several countries like Bahrain, Bulgaria, Taiwan, and Slovakia. It is also part of the Kingdom’s approach to modernizing its military hardware.