Sabca and Sabena Aerospace, part of the Blueberry Group, Belgium’s leading sustainable aerospace ecosystem, and the Kingdom of Morocco and Lockheed Martin recently signed a strategic partnership implementing the Moroccan joint venture Maintenance Aero Maroc (MAM), in the presence of Mr Abdeltif Loudyi, Minister Delegate to the Head of the Moroccan Government in charge of the National Defence Administration.
The strategic partnership promotes the international development of the Belgian Group while supporting the support needs of the Royal Moroccan Air Force and bringing high-tech jobs and technical skills to the country.
This project represents the first achievement under the recent law allowing the Kingdom of Morocco to develop a military-industrial and defence activity and derive strategic and economic benefits.
The partnership includes the construction of a 15,000 m² maintenance and repair centre for military aircraft and helicopters at Benslimane airport and the creation of 300 jobs. Maintenance Aero Maroc (MAM) will be the operator of the new centre, providing an industrial advantage to the Belgian Group through continuous maintenance opportunities on Lockheed Martin platforms.
The signing of this partnership is a new step for Blueberry Group, which will leverage the combined C-130 and F-16 expertise and world-class service to expand its maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) network and provide the Group with new opportunities to create value and develop new expertise on other platforms.
“Our Group has 50 years of experience in the maintenance, repair and overhaul of aircraft such as the C-130 and F-16,” said Stephane Burton, CEO of Blueberry Group. “We are extremely proud to begin this new partnership with the Kingdom of Morocco and Lockheed Martin, providing high-quality support services for the Moroccan Air Force, and quickly expanding to other customers in the region. We are very pleased to have MAM join our international MRO&U solutions network, bringing opportunities to develop new expertise on other platforms.“
“We are proud to share our experience with Morocco and look forward to learning from each other as we manage a robust set of industry partnerships that align with Morocco’s priorities and build on our history of successful collaborative efforts,” said Danya Trent, Lockheed Martin Vice President – F-16 Programme. This important cooperation is the result of several years of evaluation and discussions that will ensure that the Kingdom of Morocco receives the best possible industrial facilities, equipment, training and certification to meet the support needs of the Royal Moroccan Air Force and other international customers.
It may be recalled that a number of countries in this northern African region operate Lockheed Martin aircraft. Egypt, for example, purchased 220 F-16s in the 1980s and 1990s as well as a significant number of C-130s. Tunisia operates ten C-130B/Es purchased second-hand and four C-130Js purchased new. Countries like Niger, Algeria, Chad, Libya and Cameroon also operate C-130s.
In addition to its existing fleet of F-16Cs, the Kingdom of Morocco has ordered 25 F-16 Block 72s in 2019 for delivery between 2025 and 2027.
The Blueberry group has been operating in Morocco since 2012 through its subsidiary Sabca Maroc, which recently announced its investment of more than 180 million Moroccan dirhams (€17 million) in the construction of a new 16,000 m² site that will house the Pilatus, Airbus and Dassault aerostructures assembly line in the Nouaceur area. It also participated, in cooperation with the Moroccan Air Force, in the modernisation of its Dassault Mirage F1 and Alphajet aircraft. This project represents a further development of the Blueberry Group in the Kingdom of Morocco, with the first maintenance activities at Benslimane due to start this year on Lockheed Martin C-130 aircraft.
