Morocco has operated the MIM-23 HAWK (Homing All the Way Killer) medium-range surface-to-air missile system since 1984, forming a key layer of its ground-based air defense network. Morocco operates the modernized Phase III variant with improved radar and electronics. The HAWK provides medium-range air defense against aircraft and cruise missiles at ranges up to 40 km. Despite its age, Morocco has sustained the system through US military assistance programmes. The HAWK faces increasing obsolescence against modern threats including low-observable aircraft, however, and modernization or replacement with more capable systems such as Barak MX is being pursued.
![Raytheon Technologies logo](data:image/svg+xml;utf8,<svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="200" height="60" viewBox="0 0 200 60"><rect width="200" height="60" fill="%23111"/><text x="100" y="38" font-family="Arial" font-weight="bold" font-size="18" fill="%23c8a84b" text-anchor="middle">RAYTHEON</text></svg>)
- Proven medium-range air defense capability
- Modernized Phase III improves radar and reliability
- US logistics and technical support available
- Extensive operator experience accumulated over decades
- 1960s-origin design fundamentally limited in capability ceiling
- Semi-active guidance vulnerable to modern ECM
- Cannot engage ballistic missiles or low-observable aircraft
- Urgent modernization or replacement required
- Static deployment vulnerable to SEAD/DEAD strikes
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