US Army is turning the Moroccan desert into its new testing ground for drone warfare.

As part of the military cooperation between the United States and Morocco, the U.S. Army is preparing in Tan-Tan a campaign to evaluate new anti-drone systems. Planned for the spring of 2027, this initiative associates the SETAF-AF command with the G-TEAD acquisition directorate. It aims to test new equipment and then accelerate its availability to units, with a stated goal of 180 days to provide new operational capabilities.

The U.S. Army instructor demonstrates the Bumblebee anti-drone system during the African Lion exercise 2026 in Morocco on April 27, 2026. (Picture source: U.S. Army)

This approach accompanies the multiplication of military uses of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV). Beyond surveillance and reconnaissance, small drones now make it possible to identify targets and then carry out strikes directly. The FPV (First Person View) models, controlled by images transmitted by an onboard camera, offer units the capability to attack at a relatively low cost. Their use is becoming more widespread in combat groups, while their detection and neutralization are becoming essential elements of force protection.

The US is also stepping up its investment in this area. The Drone Dominance Program plans to acquire more than 200,000 small attack drones by 2027 to equip large-scale units while supporting US industrial production. This effort is part of an international trend. In July 2026, the members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) announced their intention to increase fivefold the number of trained drone operators in their armed forces by the end of 2027.

Related topic: Taiwan delivers 1,520 FPV attack drones for U.S. Drone Dominance Program to reduce reliance on China

In this context, the partnership between the U.S. Army Southern European Task Force, Africa (SETAF-AF) and the Global Tactical Edge Acquisition Directorate (G-TEAD), which specializes in the rapid acquisition of new capabilities, must make it possible to respond to the difficulties encountered in protecting command posts and military installations during the early stages of a deployment. The trials will focus on unmanned aircraft control systems, designated by the acronym C-UAS (Counter-Unmanned Aircraft Systems), specifically targeting aircraft in groups 1 to 3 of the American military classification.

Four technical areas will be examined: detection, kinetic neutralization, non-kinetic neutralization, and passive protection. They concern the identification of drones, their interception by physical means, their neutralization, in particular by electronic methods, as well as measures intended to reduce the vulnerability of military positions. A fifth part will focus on a fully integrated and transportable set, called the fly-away kit, which includes several of these functions. The goal is to have a system that can be routed and quickly installed in the field. The equipment will also have to be able to integrate with the US Army's anti-drone command and control architecture, notably the Integrated Battle Command System-Maneuver (IBCS-M).

The first demonstrations led by the military are scheduled between February and March 2027. They will be followed by an operational assessment in April and May, during the multinational exercise African Lion 2027. The choice of Morocco is explained in particular by the characteristics of its training environment. The US Army highlights relatively uncongested airspace, a less saturated electromagnetic spectrum, and a wide variety of terrain. The arid and coastal areas of the Tan-Tan region thus constitute a relevant framework for studying certain constraints that military forces could also encounter in regions of the Middle East. These conditions make it possible to confront the equipment and its users with the requirements of the field before considering their deployment in other theaters of operation. The first multinational training sessions devoted to drones, organized in Agadir during African Lion 2026, had already exploited this environment to work on reconnaissance, electronic warfare, and the integration of drones into military maneuvers.

The interest of these essays also appears in light of recent conflicts in the Middle East, where the use of drones has developed considerably. In southern Lebanon, the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) reported in May 2026 an increase in their use near its positions, with several explosions occurring either on or near its installations. In Yemen, the Houthis also use drones in their operations, particularly to threaten shipping in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden. The US Maritime Administration still identifies attack drones as a threat to commercial shipping in this region. For its part, the US Central Command (CENTCOM) announced that on June 5, 2026, it had intercepted four Iranian attack drones directed at the Strait of Hormuz. These situations illustrate the diversity of military uses of drones, from attacks on land positions to threats against maritime activities.

In this perspective, the evaluations planned for Tan-Tan could be used to examine the ergonomics of the equipment, its transport conditions, and the workload of the operators. They will also make it possible to adapt the tactics, techniques and procedures, designated by the acronym TTP (Tactics, Techniques and Procedures), to the constraints encountered by the units. The Moroccan terrain presents some similarities with arid and coastal environments of the Middle East, without however reproducing all the conditions specific to combat zones, notably intense electronic jamming or repeated attacks. This comparison is based on an analysis of training conditions: the American announcement does not present these tests as preparation for a military operation in these regions.

The 180-day period announced by the US Army is a goal for accelerating the availability of new capabilities, not just the duration of the trials held in Morocco. The results obtained during African Lion 2027 should make it possible to identify solutions that are sufficiently effective and adapted to the needs of the units to consider their adoption. Up to fifteen systems may be evaluated in collaboration with the Portfolio Acquisition Executive Fires (PAE Fires), which is responsible for supporting their eventual integration into the US Army's equipment programs.

Administratively, G-TEAD falls under the Army Pathway for Innovation and Technology (PIT). This department deploys teams to the commands to transform their urgent operational needs into technical requirements that can be handled by the procurement services. The tests will be part of the Accelerated Capability Events (ACE) system, which includes the submission of proposals, demonstrations carried out by the military, and subsequent operational evaluations. The soldiers will thus be able to transmit their observations before a possible acquisition on a larger scale. G-TEAD specifies that this approach is mainly aimed at technologies that have already reached a sufficient level of maturity to be demonstrated in an operational environment, rather than concepts that are still far from being put into practice.

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