Morocco’s Royal Armed Forces (FAR) has deployed an advanced cyber defense platform to strengthen its real-time threat detection, automated incident response and digital forensics capabilities.
The Garda Cyber Command Suite, developed by Lyntris, a United States technology company, uses artificial intelligence (AI) to evaluate threats to network infrastructure and recognize likely attack patterns. The system merges sensors, radar and electro-optical devices into a single operational picture. Armenia and Taiwan also use it.
The Garda system was developed to ensure that a nation’s network systems can function properly, even in areas with degraded or interrupted communications. This is important for militaries that must maintain continuous system operability in remote areas. “In Morocco, Armenia and Taiwan, we deployed Garda Cyber and Quasar across more than 100 monitored sites and had operators running real defensive cyber missions in days.”
According to Lyntris, Morocco’s system has between 150 and 200 operators. It includes a main command center, three mobile command-and-control platforms, three regional operations centers and 65 sensor sites. The system is also used on six ships and has between 150 and 200 users. It was not clear how much the platform cost or when Morocco began using it, and the exact nature of the Moroccan infrastructures being protected was not disclosed.
Hichem Moatadhid, a strategic and security researcher, told The Arab Weekly that Morocco is increasingly involved in technology transfer and training personnel to operate and maintain advanced systems.
Moatadhid said military AI, drones, modern battlefield communications and cyber defense are now priorities. That is because penetrating a military network can disrupt communications while manipulating sensor data can potentially affect military decision-making more significantly than conventional weapons. In modern warfare, cyber threats can compromise security before physical confrontations occur.
“From that perspective, integrating cyber defense with command and control, sensors and artificial intelligence places Morocco on a path towards building an interconnected combat architecture in which data itself becomes a component of military power,” The Arab Weekly wrote in an analysis.
According to Lyntris, Morocco also operates the Garda C2 platform, which integrates data from different sensors into a unified operational picture. This helps commanders and operators monitor developments on the ground in real time. In April, Lyntris said Moroccan Royal Armed Forces personnel underwent two weeks of training on that system in San Diego.
Morocco’s use of the Garda systems comes as Rabat and Washington broaden their military cooperation beyond arms deals and exercises. Plans were recently made to build the Africa Multidomain Training and Experimentation Center (AMTEC) in Morocco.
Scheduled to open in Tan-Tan by 2030, AMTEC will consist of a multidomain training area, a drone academy and an innovation and experimentation center. FAR and U.S. Africa Command signed a memorandum of understanding at AFRICOM headquarters on July 13.
The multidomain training area will offer a range complex to prepare Soldiers to use weapons systems, defensive systems and communications platforms. The drone academy will train operators, instructors and planners from Morocco and other African nations to enhance their capabilities against West African terrorist threats.
AMTEC aims to partner with academia, embedding experts and institutions into cross-functional design teams. The center’s first live-fire demonstration involving Moroccan and U.S. forces was held from August 3 to August 7.
“The vision is to establish [AMTEC] as a regional hub for innovation, strategic cooperation and industrial development, as well as a center of excellence dedicated to the experimentation, validation, evaluation and development of advanced technologies,” Moroccan Col. Zouhair El Hamdani, the FAR officer in charge of coordination, said in a story by the U.S. Department of War. “This first live-fire demonstration marks a significant milestone in turning that vision into reality.”