Morocco’s drone arsenal could soon become more formidable: On Nov. 11, reports surfaced that the North African country could acquire advanced Akinci combat drones from Turkish defense firm Baykar by February 2025. 

The acquisition would become Morocco’s latest arms deal with Turkey and crucially, could emerge amid an intensifying arms race with rival Algeria. On Oct. 19, Morocco set a $13.3 billion defense budget for 2025, 7% over 2024. Weeks later, on Nov. 13, Algeria approved a $25.1 billion defense budget for 2025, a record high and up 16% over 2024. 

Their rivalry, in part fueled by Morocco’s ongoing conflict with the Algeria-backed Polisario Front in Western Sahara, is unlikely to erupt into direct warfare. However, Algeria’s spending hike further raises the stakes for Morocco, which has been pushing to modernize its military capabilities and ramp up domestic defense production in recent years. The race has generated a flurry of dealmaking with new weapons suppliers like Turkey, although the United States remains Rabat’s top arms source by far. 

Riccardo Fabiani, North Africa project director with the International Crisis Group, told Al-Monitor that Morocco is clearly thinking about Algeria by trying to spend “smart” rather than “big,” as its budget can never match Algeria’s. “Rabat has been making clear efforts to gain an edge over its neighbor by focusing mostly on technology that Algiers doesn't have,” he said.