Moroccan defense firm MMI to deliver vehicle turrets to army – The Jerusalem Post

Moroccan defense firm MMI to deliver vehicle turrets to army  The Jerusalem Post

Defense firm Moroccan Military Industry (MMI) will begin delivering armored vehicle turrets to the ​Moroccan army in March 2027, its general manager said, as Rabat ‌pushes to build up its military industry with foreign partners.MMI has a weapons systems facility in the Midparc industrial zone near Casablanca, while a second plant in Sidi Yahya, north of ​Rabat, is being established to manufacture medium and large-calibre ammunition, General ​Manager Kaduri Naor told Reuters on the sidelines of the Marrakech ⁠Air Show.Sources at the air show and earlier media reports have said MMI ​is closely linked to Israeli defense company Elbit Systems and uses its technology.MMI told ​Reuters it is a Moroccan defense company.Morocco and Israel resumed diplomatic ties in 2020 and signed a defense cooperation pact in 2021, opening the way for collaboration in air defense, artillery, ​drones and defense manufacturing.Turrets to be installed on 8×8 armored vehiclesMMI has agreed with Morocco's defense administration to produce the ​turrets to be installed on 8×8 armored vehicles assembled in Morocco by India's Tata, as ‌well as ⁠related ammunition, Naor said.MMI is developing an anti-drone version of the same turret, targeting a rapidly growing global market as militaries seek lower-cost defenses against unmanned aerial threats, he said.

"The threat is very cheap… defense systems are more expensive," he ​said, adding that MMI's ​solution was