The U.S. State Department Defense Security Cooperation Agency has approved two separate foreign military sales to Bahrain and Morrocco. The sale to Bahrain was for fifty M1A2 Abrams Main Battle Tanks with associated equipment, valued at 2.2B USD. The sale to Morrcoo was for 612 Javelin FGM-148F missiles and associated equipment, valued at 260M USD.
The details for the Morocco sale read below:
“The Government of Morocco has requested to buy six hundred twelve (612) Javelin FGM-148F missiles (includes twelve (12) fly-to-buy missiles) and two hundred (200) Javelin Lightweight Command Launch Units (LWCLUs). Also included are missile simulation rounds; Javelin support equipment; hand and measuring tools; books and publications; power plus distribution equipment; component parts and support equipment; life cycle support and other technical assistance; gunner training; ammunition officer’s training; System Integration and Checkout (SICO); maintenance training; Tactical Aviation and Ground Munitions (TAGM); and other related elements of logistics and program support. The total estimated cost is $260 million.”
The Royal Moroccan Army currently fields 13 Royal Tank Regiments but severely lacks anti-armor capability inside its 2 Airborne Infantry Brigades and 15 Motorized Infantry Brigades. This sale will significantly bridge that gap.
The details for the Bahrain sale read below:
“The Government of Bahrain has requested to buy fifty (50) M1A2 SEPv3 Abrams Main Battle Tanks; four (4) M88A2 HERCULES Combat Recovery Vehicles; eight (8) M1110 Joint Assault Bridges; eight (8) M1150 Assault Breacher Vehicles; eight (8) Heavy Assault Scissor Bridge (HASB); one hundred (100) M240 Coaxial 7.62mm machine guns; three (3) AGT1500 Gas Turbine engines; six thousand (6,000) 120mm M1002 Target Practice Multipurpose Tracer (TPMP-T) projectiles; and five thousand seven hundred sixty (5,760) 120mm M1147 High Explosive Multipurpose Tracers. Also included are M2A1 .50 caliber machine guns; Common Remote Operated Weapons Station Low Profile (CROWS-LP); Forward Repair System; M250 smoke grenade launchers; service and training ammunition; M1300/M1302 Enhanced Heavy Equipment Transporter System (EHETS); M978A4 Heavy Expanded Mobility Tactical Truck (HEMTT) tanker and Load Handling System (LHS); M074A1 Palletized Load Systems and trailers and flat racks; support and test equipment; integration and test support; spare and repair parts; Special Tools and Test Equipment (STTE); communications equipment; Selective Availability Anti-Spoofing Module (SAASM)-based Global Positioning System (GPS) receivers; software delivery and support; Identification Friend or Foe (IFF) equipment; publications and technical manuals; maintenance trainers; training equipment; U.S. Government and contractor engineering, technical, and logistics support services; Next Generation Automatic Test System (NGATS); and other related elements of logistics and program support. The estimated total cost is $2.2 billion.”
The Bahrain Defense Force currently fields 54 M60A3 tanks, which were also sold by the United States. So this sale will significantly increase the capability of the ground forces from their aging fleet of MBTs.
