Morocco’s armed forces are taking delivery of Sherpa armoured vehicles and VL MICA air defence systems from France following contracts signed some two years ago.
It has been reported that the first batch of Sherpa vehicles had arrived in Morocco and were seen being transported to military bases in the North African country. In 2020 it was reported that Morocco had ordered 36 Sherpa armoured vehicles from France’s Arquus, in Light Scout and Light Armoured Personnel Carrier (APC) models.
The Sherpa was launched in 2006 and is produced in four variants: the Sherpa Scout seating four to five soldiers, Carrier (with a flat bed at the rear), APC for troop transport and Sherpa Special Forces. Over 1 000 Sherpas have been built for entities like Nato (the International Security Assistance Forces have used the vehicle in Afghanistan) and countries such as Chile, Kuwait, Lebanon and Indonesia. An Assault Ladder version has been acquired by India, Brazil and France for police/security missions.
According to reports from Morocco, the first two VL MICA batteries arrived in recent weeks after being ordered in 2020 at a cost of 192 million euros. It is understood that four batteries are being acquired from MBDA.