Morocco’s Benslimane industrial zone east of Casablanca is becoming a major hub for drone manufacturing, including homegrown technology and Türkiye’s Bayraktar unmanned aerial vehicles.
In recent years, Morocco has poured money and talent into becoming a key player in the global drone market. Moroccan companies such as Aerodrive Engineering Services are carving out space in the market while French and Israeli drone manufacturers join their Turkish and British counterparts in Morocco.
In 2025, Morocco granted licenses to 10 drone projects worth more than $260 million. The goal, National Defense Administration chief Abdellatif Loudiyi told Parliament, is to build a homegrown industrial base that can supply the Moroccan military and produce technology for export.
In addition to manufacturing drones, Morocco has been designated a regional drone training center for African militaries as part of Exercise African Lion 2026. The training center will collect and analyze operational data and improve electronic warfare technologies.
Analysts say that Morocco’s plan to become a drone technology leader is an outgrowth of the country’s history as a base for aerospace companies such as the United States’ Boeing and Lockheed-Martin, and France’s Safran.
Writing for the Spanish news outlet Atalayar, analyst Enrique Fernández noted that Morocco’s drive to develop drone technology also is connected to its domestic security.
“The urgency to master this technology stems directly from the country’s border realities,” Fernández wrote.Morocco signed a $70 million deal to buy 13 Bayraktar TB2 drones in 2021. It received its first delivery that year. In August 2024, the military announced that it had received more Bayraktar TB2s. In 2025, Morocco received Bayraktar’s advanced Akinci drones.
By developing a drone facility in Morocco, the Bayraktar TB2’s maker, Baykar, put its drones closer to African clients for quicker delivery, according to Military Africa.
“The facility will not only serve Morocco but potentially supply drones to other countries in the region,” Military Africa analysts wrote.
Meanwhile, Aerodrive Engineering Services launched its Atlas Istar drones for military intelligence-gathering in 2024. It will begin making 500 one-way attack drones (OWA-UAV) at the Benslimane site in 2027.
Atlas Istar is Morocco’s first domestically made military drone. In a statement on Aerodrive Engineering Service’s LinkedIn page, company leaders described the drone as a milestone that “marks a significant achievement in our journey to develop a state-of-the-art unmanned aerial system designed for military surveillance and intelligence-gathering operations.”
Domestically developed drones will help Morocco reduce its dependence on foreign manufacturers while also buttressing its economic status within the region, according to analysts.
“Any arms-producing state is able to defend itself independently and respond to the various external risks and challenges, especially amid the tensions the world is witnessing,” Moroccan security expert Abderrahmane Mekkaoui told Al Majalla. “Without that capacity, the task becomes far harder.”
