Marrakech Airshow closed Friday after four days in which organizers counted 26 strategic agreements spanning aircraft manufacturing, maintenance, defense production, drones, local sourcing and industrial land.
Some involve defined investments and jobs, one is a procurement contract for precision weapons, while others establish frameworks for future investment, reserve industrial land or commit companies to explore opportunities that have yet to become firm orders.
Here is what was signed.
1. ACME brings Boeing, Airbus, Lockheed Martin and Safran into one research consortium
Morocco formalized the consortium behind the Africa Center of Manufacturing Excellence, or ACME, hosted by Mohammed VI Polytechnic University. The Industry Ministry, National Defense Administration, OCP and UM6P joined Boeing, Airbus, Lockheed Martin, Safran Nacelles and CETIM Maroc in a shared platform for advanced manufacturing research, industrialization and training, covering fields including composites, additive manufacturing, robotics and automation.
2. Safran Oil Systems plans a new engine-fluid systems operation
Safran Oil Systems signed an MoU to develop manufacturing in Morocco for aircraft-engine lubrication and fluid-management systems, adding another specialized component activity to the country’s engine supply chain. The project targets around 100 jobs. Published investment figures differ: opening-day reports put it at MAD 120 million, while subsequent industry reporting citing ministry information gave MAD 160 million.
3. Royal Air Maroc wants more of its supply chain made in Morocco
RAM and the Industry Ministry signed a framework agreement to identify products, equipment and services that can be sourced from Moroccan suppliers. The program is intended to turn the airline’s expanding procurement needs into orders for local companies and develop suppliers capable of selling beyond RAM; industry reporting says the long-term substitution target could reach 60% of relevant imports.
4. Harmattan AI gets an industrial platform in Morocco
The state and French defense-technology company Harmattan AI signed an investment agreement for an integrated Moroccan industrial and technology platform covering research, engineering, production, integration and testing of autonomous defense and counter-drone systems. The project is intended to move part of the technology chain itself into Morocco rather than limiting cooperation to equipment purchases.
5. Morocco and Harmattan AI sign an IRIFI letter of intent
A separate letter of intent between the National Defense Administration and Harmattan AI covers the acquisition, development and production in Morocco of the IRIFI autonomous deep-strike system. It is important to keep the status straight: this is a letter of intent, not a disclosed final procurement contract, and the division of production work has not yet been made public.
6. Mecapole moves precision aerospace machining into Morocco
Mecapole Industries signed for a Moroccan project producing precision-machined components for aircraft and helicopters, adding another high-value manufacturing process to the local aerospace chain. There is another discrepancy in the published figures: the Industry Ministry cited €10 million and 80 jobs, while the subsequent Midparc agreement described a €14 million project employing 85 people, with production expected from 2028.
7. KAI, AMDIE and GIMAS create a Korean-Moroccan industrial framework
Korea Aerospace Industries, AMDIE and Morocco’s aerospace industry grouping GIMAS signed an MoU to explore industrial partnerships, local supplier development and future investment. No aircraft order or factory was attached to this agreement; its purpose is to establish the framework through which specific Korean aerospace projects could later be developed in Morocco.
8. Matis Aerospace expands aircraft wiring production
Matis Aerospace signed an investment program worth about $16.46 million to increase its Moroccan production of electrical wiring for aircraft. The official announcement targets 750 direct jobs, making it the largest publicly disclosed employment commitment among the civilian manufacturing agreements signed during the show.
9. APS Coating brings more surface treatment into the Moroccan supply chain
APS Coating signed an MoU for an €18 million aerospace surface-treatment facility, with 120 direct jobs planned. The activity covers processes required to protect, finish and inspect aircraft components and is expected to add a capability Moroccan manufacturers otherwise have to source elsewhere in the value chain.
10. ND Defense, MZ Automotive and Demarko team up on military vehicles
U.S.-based ND Defense, Morocco’s MZ Automotive and Poland’s Demarko signed an industrial partnership covering defense mobility, the integration of specialized vehicles and logistics solutions for heavy equipment. No investment amount, manufacturing location or precise division of work was disclosed at the show.
11. Royal Air Maroc and Boeing will refurbish seven Dreamliners
RAM signed a partnership agreement with Boeing to overhaul the cabins of its seven Boeing 787-8 aircraft. The project includes new seats, upgraded in-flight entertainment and connectivity as the airline brings its older Dreamliners closer to the cabin standard of newer long-haul aircraft entering the fleet.
12. KAI, MAM and SABCA position for Morocco’s future trainer-aircraft needs
Korea Aerospace Industries signed another, separate MoU with Maintenance Aero Maroc and SABCA Maroc to explore commercial and industrial cooperation. This one specifically references the potential market for KAI’s T-50 family with the Royal Moroccan Air Force. It does not constitute a Moroccan order for the aircraft, but gives KAI a prospective local industrial and maintenance structure if talks advance.
13. Trelleborg will nearly double its new Midparc factory
Midparc and Trelleborg Aerospace signed an expansion agreement only months after the Swedish group opened its aerospace sealing-systems plant at Nouaceur. Covered factory space is expected to rise from 5,209 square meters to more than 10,000, deepening an investment that originated in an agreement signed at the previous Marrakech Airshow in 2024.
14. WAGA and Canwest plan a helicopter MRO center in Benslimane
Moroccan company WAGA International and Canada’s Canwest Aerospace signed a partnership to develop a multi-platform helicopter maintenance, repair and overhaul center in Benslimane. The partners say the project will combine technology and know-how transfer with the training of Moroccan personnel and target helicopter operators in Morocco and elsewhere in Africa.
15. Arquus secures industrial land through SGZID
Defense-zone manager SGZID signed a land-mobilization agreement with French military-vehicle manufacturer Arquus, one of seven such agreements concluded during the show. The signatures reserve or prepare industrial land within Morocco’s new defense industrial acceleration zones; neither the size nor precise industrial scope of the Arquus project has yet been publicly detailed.
16. Marcotec signs for defense industrial land
Moroccan company Marcotec was the second company named in SGZID’s package of land agreements. The public announcement establishes access to land for a future specialized defense-industry project but does not disclose its investment value, timetable or final manufacturing program.
17. MKU joins Morocco’s new defense industrial zones
India’s MKU also signed a land-mobilization agreement with SGZID. The company works in defense protection and soldier systems, but SGZID did not publicly specify which activities would be established under the Moroccan project, making this an industrial-establishment step rather than a disclosed production contract.
18. INKAS Aerospace & Defense signs an industrial-land agreement
INKAS Aerospace & Defense was another of the seven companies to sign with SGZID. The agreement provides the land framework for a prospective defense project in Morocco, although investment, production and employment commitments were not released with the signature.
19. ABA Technology prepares to expand Moroccan defense production
Moroccan technology group ABA Technology signed with SGZID to support the development of its industrial footprint and production capabilities. The company used the airshow to display Moroccan-developed surveillance, counter-drone, ISR-drone, unmanned-ground and defense-AI systems, while describing the SGZID agreement as a step toward expanding domestic defense manufacturing.
20. IGG and Bal Teq Defense Industries enter the defense-zone program
SGZID signed another land agreement covering the IGG/Bal Teq Defense Industries partnership. As with several of the seven land signatures, the official public account identifies the industrial counterpart but does not yet provide the project’s size, products, investment or construction schedule.
21. Harmattan AI also takes a place in the defense industrial zones
Harmattan AI appears twice in the airshow dealbook. In addition to its broader state-backed industrial investment agreement, the company signed a separate land-mobilization agreement with SGZID, providing the physical industrial-zone component for future defense activity in Morocco.
22–24. Three agreements create the CIMED defense-electronics consortium
Three MoUs signed on Oct. 9 created the International and Moroccan Defense Electronics Consortium, or CIMED, bringing together Morocco’s Melint, India’s Tonbo Imaging and Slovenia’s DAT-CON. Public disclosures describe the three protocols collectively rather than assigning a distinct published scope to each one, so separating them artificially would go beyond what has been released. Together, they establish a Moroccan platform initially focused on maintenance, assembly, systems integration, testing and upgrading of electro-optical, thermal, night-vision and surveillance systems, with greater local production envisaged later.
25. Morocco signs a firm EDGE contract for precision weapons
Unlike many of the show’s exploratory MoUs, the agreement with UAE defense group EDGE is a procurement contract. Morocco’s National Defense Administration contracted for DESERT STING 16 guided-glide weapons and THUNDER P-31 precision-guided munitions, including integration across the Royal Moroccan Air Force’s unmanned combat aircraft fleet. Neither quantities nor contract value were disclosed.
26. EDGE and Morocco explore local production of weapons and aircraft engines
EDGE separately signed an MoU with the National Defense Administration to explore manufacturing high-performance small arms and aeronautical engines in Morocco through local partnerships. The framework names knowledge exchange, technology transfer and domestic industrial development as objectives, with EDGE subsidiaries CARACAL and POWERTECH providing the relevant weapons and propulsion capabilities.
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