"AMTEC's (Africa Multi-Domain Training and Experimentation Center) first live-fire demonstration in Morocco tested a low-cost, long-range cruise missile system, demonstrating how AFRICOM and Morocco are quickly connecting warfighter operational needs with technology industry innovation." This announcement by the US Army Command for Africa further elevates the alliance between the two countries not so much because of the revelation of the missile examined (Anthem) but because of the new test and exercise center in the African country.
Located in Tan-Tan (southwest of Morocco), the complex is intended, among other missions, to test new systems and technologies, which is also certified by the strategic importance that Washington attaches to Rabat. In the words of its armed forces, the demonstration "reinforced Morocco's role as a regional reference in security matters."
For Morocco, it is equally relevant given that the US is not only a prominent partner on the shifting international board but also its main arms supplier (around 60%). "The vision is to consolidate AMTEC as a regional center of innovation, strategic cooperation and industrial development, as well as a center of excellence dedicated to the experimentation, validation, evaluation and development of advanced technologies," Moroccan Colonel Zouhair El Hamdani summarizes the days between August 3 and 7. According to this coordinating officer, "the first live-fire demonstration marks an important milestone in turning that vision into reality."
In what is planned to be a military testing ground for the United States and its allies (starting with the hosts) as well as for defense companies and startups (shortening manufacturing, testing and operational use times), the AMTEC structure should be completed before 2030. Three major components will dominate the facility: a Multi-Domain Training Area (MDTA), an Innovation and Experimentation Center and a Drone Academy.
It is the result of the signing in July in Stuttgart (AFRICOM headquarters) between the American general, Dagvin Anderson, and the inspector general of the Royal Moroccan Armed Forces, Lieutenant General Mohamed Berrid, three months after a bilateral agreement on Defense for the next ten years. This document, signed at the Pentagon, constitutes the Roadmap for their military cooperation, taking over from the 2020 agreement.
Anderson, commander of AFRICOM for a year, notes that the center in Tan-Tan "demonstrates that partnerships based on trust are the way we can together confront the security challenges we share."
"The partnership with Morocco provides a crucial stage that accelerates the readiness of the joint forces of the United States and our African partners," he adds. Like the one they led in the twenty-second "African Lion" maneuver that brought together 5,600 military and civilians from several dozen countries.
The cruise missile, already tested in July at Project Convergence-Capstone 6 in California, has been developed by Covenant Industries in the USA. Created in 2024 by the American-Israeli Michael Kaufman who served as an investor in Thiel Capital, it is a low-profile American technology company with a subsidiary registered in Israel and focused on the development of low-cost missiles and weapons systems. According to various information, some of the equipment and personnel of Covenant Industries in the test of its missile in southern Morocco arrived directly from Israel.
Anthem aspires to be an attractive resource in a global context marked by the war between Russia and Ukraine since February 24, 2022 and the one that has shaken the Middle East since October 7, 2023 with all its effects on the production, supply and reserves of weapons. It could be an alternative to the higher-cost Tomahawk missiles. According to the American media "Politico", it is among the options studied by Germany in the urgent search for long-range and low-priced attack capabilities.
The American-Moroccan alliance, which dates back to 1777 when Morocco became the first country to recognize the United States, received a boost with Trump's arrival in the White House. The relationship that goes beyond his harmony with King Mohamed VI includes military collaboration, private company contracts, joint training and of course the political declaration of great strategic significance such as the US recognition of Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara within the framework of the Abraham Accords in 2020.
The close relationship between Rabat and Washington contrasts with the tensions between both and for different reasons with Madrid. While the crisis around Ceuta after the massive avalanche on July 30 examines the sensitive Spanish-Moroccan relationship, Trump has not hidden his anger towards a country that is a member of NATO like Spain. One of the last episodes this year was the refusal of Pedro Sánchez's Government to use the Rota and Morón bases for operations linked to the offensive against Iran.
Trump has been decisive in the military strengthening of Morocco also indirectly as godfather of the Abraham Accords. Normalizing relations with Israel officially opened the store in Rabat with the offer of systems and technologies from the defense industry and both state and private Israeli companies.
