Could Drones Change the Game in Western Sahara?

Maghreb countries are showing an increasing interest in the production of drones. Could this type of weaponry influence the conflict in Western Sahara, which has been ongoing since 1975?

Drones are becoming an increasingly important part of modern conflicts, and the countries of the Maghreb are interested in them as well. According to The Wall Street Journal, Morocco recently signed a deal with Israel to build drone factories.

Sophisticated weaponry that fits with the “zero loss” strategy has been developed for modern conflicts, Mokhtar Saïd Mediouni, a former colonel of the Algerian Air Force and expert in defense and security issues, told Sputnik.

"These are the wars of the centuries that lie ahead, now it's a war of technology [...] It's called the zero-loss strategy. We use unmanned aircraft, unmanned submarines or torpedoes [...] The problem is that the more we advance in technology, the more countermeasures appear," the former colonel said.

However, this may not be enough to turn the conflict in Western Sahara around. The expert pointed out that “it is not drones that win wars, but the rightness of the cause.” Moreover, Mokhtar Saïd Mediouni said that none of the Western weapons delivered to Ukraine have been able to change the situation.

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The fact remains that Western Sahara offers favorable terrain for the deployment of military drones, Yaakov Kedmi, former director of Nativ, told Sputnik.

"This type of warfare offers a wide range of activities for drones. Air-to-air combat between drones is possible, although quite rare. But the competent use of drones, their number and types can play a serious role in the battles in Western Sahara," he explained.

Therefore, it would not be surprising to see the two parties continue to equip themselves with military drones, Yuri Lyamin, a military expert at the Center for Analysis of Strategies and Technologies, pointed out.

"In the context of a new round of conflicts in Western Sahara and the intensification of the confrontation between Morocco and Algeria, both sides are increasing their purchases of drones and it is likely that this trend will only intensify," Yuri Lyamin summed up for Sputnik.

Other than the two Maghreb powers, the Polisario Front, a rebel Sahrawi nationalist liberation movement that claims Western Sahara, has also recently announced that it is arming itself with drones. The conflict has been ongoing since 1975, and as several military experts have pointed out, the outcome of wars is played out predominantly on the ground.