Lockheed Martin is seeking to bring more Moroccan manufacturers into its global aerospace and defence supply chain as the US defence technology company deepens its industrial partnership with Morocco. The company will host an Industry Day in Marrakech on October 6, ahead of the Marrakech Airshow 2026, in partnership with Morocco’s Ministry of Industry and Trade. Business Inside Africa notes that potential Moroccan suppliers will receive briefings on Lockheed Martin’s qualification standards and discuss manufacturing opportunities linked to current and future defence programmes. Steve Sheehy, vice president of international business at Lockheed Martin Aeronautics, said the company wants Moroccan businesses to play a “greater role” in its global supply chain as the partnership develops.
The initiative builds on an industrial relationship that has developed over more than five decades. Lockheed Martin already works with Eaton Souriau’s facility in Tangier, which has supplied components to its global programmes for almost two decades, while the company has explored further collaboration with Ausare, part of France’s Mecachrome Group. Morocco has also expanded its aerospace maintenance capabilities through Maintenance Aero Maroc, a joint venture involving Lockheed Martin, Sabena Engineering and Morocco’s MEDZ, with an aerospace maintenance facility being developed at Benslimane. The wider Moroccan aerospace sector has grown into a significant manufacturing base, with nearly 150 companies generating about $2.6 billion in exports in 2024, according to the US Department of Commerce.
For Morocco, deeper participation in Lockheed Martin’s supply chain could move the country further up the global aerospace and defence value chain, creating opportunities in component manufacturing, engineering, maintenance and specialised industrial services. The timing also aligns with Morocco’s ambition to strengthen its domestic defence industry and attract higher value manufacturing investment. Lockheed Martin’s presence at the Marrakech Airshow from October 7 to 10, where it will showcase the F 35 cockpit demonstrator alongside the F 35A, F 16 and C 130J Super Hercules, provides a high profile backdrop for those discussions. While the Industry Day does not itself represent new manufacturing contracts, the company’s effort to identify qualified Moroccan suppliers signals growing interest in using the Kingdom’s industrial capabilities to support its international operations.
