Israel and Morocco Enter Advanced Talks for Sale of David’s Sling Long Range Air Defences

Morocco and Israel are reportedly holding advanced discussions over a potential Moroccan acquisition of the David’s Sling long range air and missile defence system, which is designed to intercept tactical ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, medium- to long-range rockets and unmanned aerial vehicles. The negotiations concern the possible integration of the Israeli-developed system into the existing Moroccan air defence network, which is built around NATO-standard systems including the U.S. MIM-104 Patriot, and will soon be strengthened with deliveries of F-16 Block 72 fighters. Discussions have reportedly progressed beyond an initial assessment of the system.

The David’s Sling was conceptualised as a direct successor to the Patriot and jointly developed by Israeli defence contractor Rafael Advanced Defense Systems in cooperation with the U.S. defence firm Raytheon, with support from Israel’s Missile Defense Organization and the U.S. Missile Defense Agency. It integrates missiles with dual-mode terminal homing - meaning that each missile deploys two seekers one using an active electronically scanned array radar and the other using imaging infra red. This allows either seeker to guide the missile to its target, while using both significantly increases immunity to jamming or decoys to facilitate a much higher probability of achieving kills. 

The David’s Sling system entered Israeli service in 2017 and occupies an intermediate layer within the country’s wider air and missile defence architecture, between systems intended primarily for shorter-range threats and the Arrow family of interceptors designed to engage longer-range ballistic missiles in space. Its principal interceptor, the Stunner, uses a sophisticated multi-sensor guidance system intended to engage manoeuvring and difficult-to-intercept targets. If an order is placed, Morocco would be the second foreign client for the system after Finland. Morocco has already acquired Israeli air defence systems, including the Barak MX and Spyder families. Barak MX is designed to engage a range of aerial threats, while Spyder provides a more mobile capability against aircraft, helicopters, unmanned aerial vehicles and certain types of precision-guided weapons. The David’s Sling would add a higher tier to this network.

A notable caveat of the David’s Sling is that the Russian Armed Forces already has significant insights into how it operates and its constituent technologies. This was obtained not only by Russian forces operating in very close proximity to Israel’s air defence network from facilities in Syria, but also through the recovery of an unexploded surface-to-air missile which landed in Syria relatively intact in 2018 and was subsequently sent to Russia for study. Algeria’s close strategic partnership with Russia could likely result in the North African country being provided with considerable information on the Israeli system and its possible weaknesses, allowing the Algerian Air Force to better engage and destroy it. 

The Moroccan Defence Ministry has been reported by multiple sources to be interested in acquiring F-35 fifth generation fighter aircraft from the United States, with a growing number of Moroccan sources have called for the country to seek to leverage its ties with Israel to gain access to the the fighter type. In November 2021 a meeting between Israeli Defence Minister Benny Ganz and his Moroccan counterpart Abdellatif Loudiyi saw the two further defence agreements, and reportedly followed expressions of interest by Moroccan King Mohammed VI in acquiring F-35s with Israel’s help.  Algeria remains the only major state in the Arab world outside the Western sphere of influence, and using predominantly non-Western military equipment, with its forces built up primarily to counter a potential attack from NATO, but also for a potential conflict with its Western- and Israeli-aligned neighbour. Morocco has been one of Israel’s closest strategic partners since the 1950s, and played a particularly central role in facilitating an Israeli victory in the Six Day War in 1967.