Morocco Partners with Defense Technology Firm to Develop Military Autonomy Systems

Harmattan AI, a private defense technology firm supported by French giant Dassault, has announced it signed a major strategic partnership with the Royal Armed Forces to deploy next-generation autonomous air defense capabilities and build a sovereign, technologically advanced defense industrial base.

In a press release issued Thursday, Harmattan AI said it will contribute its expertise to establish manufacturing capabilities in Morocco to produce autonomous defense systems.

The start-up will also help create a R&D center dedicated to artificial intelligence in defense and build partnerships with Moroccan higher education and research institutions.

“This partnership demonstrates our ability to support sovereign nations in developing their domestic defense industrial base. Morocco has made a strategic choice in favour of strategic autonomy and technological sovereignty and we are proud to contribute to this ambition. This collaboration represents the foundation of a long-term partnership with Morocco”, said Mouad M’Ghari, CEO & co-founder of Harmattan AI.

Established in 2024, Harmattan AI, which is based in Paris, builds vertically integrated autonomous systems for military use, including autonomous/uncrewed aerial systems (ISR and strike), layered counter drone/air defense solutions. It also delivers electronic warfare payloads, and command and control/mission level autonomy and software.

It also engineers onboard/edge AI, scalable production of attritable systems, and works with allied defense customers. The firm has offices in France, Morocco, Switzerland, UAE, UK and USA.