News: Moroccan F-X Program | Royal Moroccan Armed Forces
Interesting bit about Morrocan replacement of F-5 III.
Please do not start a thread about a Morrocan purchase just yet. Let us wait for something concrete to emerge.
I read about this at SDF courtesy @A.Man
I could not easily copy and paste the text of the link above with my smart phone. Here is the body of the text from that link:
News: Moroccan F-X Program
The Moroccan F-X program has been established to enable the Royal Moroccan Air Force to buy a new aircraft to replace the Northrop F-5 Tiger III for the next decade.
Although the formal request for proposals has not been released, several competitors are expected to submit existing aircraft and others are considering all new designs.
What we know is that the chineses, through CATIC, have proposed an industrial cooperation and proposed their Chengdu/PAC JF-17 Thunder.
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Evidently this link is a little dated (29 April, 2014). It is nice that CATIC is pushing FC-1 / JF-17.
It is interesting to note that RMAF operates the following aricraft:
F-16 C/D Blk 52: 24 (16+8)
Mirage F1: 33(?) (27 upgraded + 5-7)
Dassault Mirage F1 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
F-5: 32 (8 F-5B/F III for training + 24 F-5E III Fighters)
Northrop F-5 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Alpha Jet : 24 CAS/Trainer
Dassault/Dornier Alpha Jet - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
List of active Moroccan military aircraft - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
One can see that JF-17 can easily replace F-5, and provided a twin-seat version is made, can take over training role of F-5 as well. Moreover, Mirage F-1 is getting old as well and airforces the world over are retiring them. The specifications are not too different from JF-17. So, F-1 can also be replaced with JF-17 if RMAF so chooses. Lastly, Alpha Jets can also be replaced with JF-17, but their role and specifications are quite different. Evidently they can soldier on as trainers while JF-17 takes over CAS because of its multi-role nature.
With F-16 Blk 52 and JF-17 based force, RMAF can replicate PAF's model of hi-lo setup with potent multirole combat aircraft in a very cost-effective configuration.
My guess is that they could eventually buy between 60-90 planes.
