Inside the military build-up of Morocco and Algeria

The bitter rivalry between Moroccan and Algerian leaders is driving an aggressive arms race across North Africa that has steadily escalated over several decades.

According to newly updated 2025 data, the Algerian and Moroccan economies together account for around 54% of all military spending across the entire African continent and more than 90% of North Africa’s military expenditure. 

Algeria led the continent with $25.4 billion in military expenditures in 2025, up 11% year over year. Since 2011, the share of military spending has continued to climb in Algeria’s budget, with defence expenditure rising to absorb an astronomical 8.8% of Algeria’s national GDP by 2025. This sharp increase in revenues from Algerian gas exports to European countries, surging in volume and price since the outbreak of the war in Ukraine, has therefore been essentially directed straight into the military sector.

Figures from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute show that the Kingdom of Morocco has recently surpassed Algeria to become Africa’s top arms importer. The share of Rabat’s military spending over the past 20 years has remained consistently high, generally between 3% and 4% of its national gross domestic product. Year after year, Morocco’s defence spending has slowly but noticeably increased, reaching $13 billion in 2025, according to a report by Middle East Monitor. 

For the past few years, this accelerating arms race has been accompanied by a dangerous and direct escalation of frontline tensions between the two states. This modern hostility stems from deep historical roots, beginning with the 1963 Sand War, which was a bitter post-colonial border conflict over poorly demarcated French colonial boundaries. The rivalry between Morocco and Algeria has intensified over the decades due to the unresolved Western Sahara dispute, where Algeria provides financial and military backing to the Polisario Front rebels fighting Moroccan sovereignty. Following the 2020 Abraham Accords, which saw the United States recognise Morocco’s Saharan sovereignty in exchange for Rabat normalising ties with Israel, an isolated Algiers severed all diplomatic relations with Morocco. Without open channels for communication, the heavily fortified, 1,600-kilometer frontier has become highly reactive.

The most alarming recent incident came in April 2026, when two Algerian Mi-28NE attack helicopters made an aggressive pass over the border into the Moroccan region of Figuig. Before that, in February, Algerian soldiers crossed into Moroccan territory at Ksar Ich, planting border markers and firing warning shots near farmland. Military analysts are increasingly concerned that incidents like these, uncoordinated and escalating, could stumble into something far larger.

Historically, Morocco has always maintained close ties with the United States. Morocco was famously one of the first foreign states to recognise the independence of the United States in the late 18th century and in 2004, the kingdom formally became a “major non-NATO ally” of the United States. This diplomatic alignment is backed by military hardware and shared operations. The US has supplied 91% of Morocco’s arms, with the Kingdom getting equipment worth $4,478 million since 2013. Additionally, the Kingdom has received funding worth $135 million from US Foreign Military Financing since 2012. The United States supplies the vast majority of Morocco’s conventional heavy weaponry. This includes F-16 fighter jets, Abrams main battle tanks, and advanced missile systems. Furthermore, Morocco anchors its operational integration with Washington by co-hosting “African Lion“, which is the largest annual joint military exercise on the African continent. According to a statement from the General Staff of the Royal Armed Forces, “40,000 military personnel have participated in the last five editions of this exercise, reflecting the commitment of our partners and the importance of this annual gathering, the largest military event in Africa.”

The Algerian regime has maintained close and consistent strategic ties with the USSR and the Russian state since gaining its independence from France in the 1960s. This Algerian-Soviet partnership, heavily centred on large-scale armaments procurement and military training, has endured well beyond the end of the Cold War. For the period running from 2018 to 2022, data indicates that 73% of Algerian military imports came directly from Russia, making Algiers one of Moscow’s most reliable defence clients globally. This dependency features a heavy concentration of frontline Russian hardware, including advanced Su-30MKA fighter jets, T-90SA main battle tanks, S-400 surface-to-air missile defence systems, and Iskander-E tactical ballistic missiles, alongside Kilo-class diesel-electric submarines patrolling the Mediterranean.

The presence of an Israeli-aligned military on its doorstep is seen as a threat by the Algerian regime. Especially given that the alliance has moved beyond diplomatic recognition towards military and technological cooperation. This caused a massive international scandal in 2021 with the Pegasus affair. It was alleged that Moroccan secret services used Israeli cyber-spyware known as Pegasus, to target high-ranking Algerian politicians, military commanders, and civil activists.

This security alliance has since evolved into full-scale industrial and tactical integration. In January 2026, the Israel-Morocco Cooperative Military Committee signed a formal joint action plan in Tel Aviv to institutionalise strategic planning and joint combat drills. On the ground, Moroccan forces have engaged in direct, simulated underground and tunnel-warfare training alongside elite Israeli brigades, such as the Golani unit. This shared training is reinforced by massive hardware transfers and localised production; Morocco has deployed the $500 million Israeli Barak MX air defence system, Heron surveillance drones, and has established domestic manufacturing facilities for Israeli SpyX loitering munitions.

The geopolitical polarisation has further expanded with a broader network of external actors backing opposing sides. The United Arab Emirates has increasingly aligned with Rabat, injecting financial capital into the kingdom and providing military assistance. According to a report by the Middle East Eye and agencies, Morocco is also expected to receive 30 modernised second-hand Mirage 2000-9 fighter jets from the UAE  from 2027 onwards. 

Saudi Arabia, on the other hand, has chosen to walk a careful diplomatic tightrope between Rabat and Algiers. Because the Gulf Cooperation Council maintains consensus regarding Moroccan sovereignty, as well as the strength and unity of both states, this standoff between the two North African countries is highly unlikely to fracture into a destructive proxy conflict like those seen in Yemen or Sudan.

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L’Essentiel de l’Éco, Defensa, Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, Radio France Internationale, World Bank, U.S Department of State, F-16.net, Middle East Monitor, Military Africa, North Africa Post, Middle East Council On Global Affairs, Algerie Solidaire, MENA defense, Military Watch Magazine, sldinfo.com, ecofinagency.com, Israel Hayom, Globes, The database of Israeli military and security export, Middle East Eye and agencies, Maghrebi.org