p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 15.0px Calibri; -webkit-text-stroke: #000000} span.s1 {font-kerning: none} span.s2 {text-decoration: line-through ; font-kerning: none} span.s3 {text-decoration: underline ; font-kerning: none; color: #0463c1; -webkit-text-stroke: 0px #0463c1} The Donald Trump administration greenlighted the delivery of 162 Abrams tanks to Morocco last year to help the kingdom respond to regional challenges.

US government documents reviewed by Al-Monitor indicate that the delivery of the vehicles was approved in September as part of an effort to move forward with deals to outfit the North African nation with more than $115 million in US equipment the Pentagon no longer needs. Under the Excess Defense Articles program, or EDA, surplus military equipment that hasn’t been offered to domestic police forces can be made available at reduced or no cost to foreign allies.

Deliveries of excess US military equipment to Morocco have sped up in recent years, suggesting that the Pentagon may see the program as an avenue to fast-track sales instead of relying on other programs that require extensive approval from the administration and Congress to go ahead.

The Moroccans “get $15 million a year in [regular] military aid from the US, so $100 million for one project is pretty massive,” Seth Binder, an analyst with Strategic Research and Analysis, a US-based consultancy, told Al-Monitor. “People complain that the arms sales process is too slow. I’ve been wondering if they use EDA if that process would speed up.”