Analysis – The African Lion roars in real time: African Lion Exercise 2026, strategic centrality of Morocco and geopolitics of a fractured world

Par Dr Mohamed Chtatou

As of May 6, 2026, Exercise African Lion 2026 (AL26) is currently taking place in the Kingdom of Morocco and is scheduled to end on May 8. This twenty-second edition of the largest annual military exercise on the African continent mobilizes more than 5,600 soldiers and civilians from more than 40 nations, spread across four host countries: Ghana, Morocco, Senegal and Tunisia. The exercise is being conducted jointly by the US Southern Europe Africa Task Force (SETAF-AF) and the Royal Moroccan Armed Forces (FAR). This essay examines the AL26 exercise as an ongoing event: its immediate operational contours, the strategic logic underlying its execution, and its significance in the broader geopolitical context of 2026 – a world still shaken by the repercussions of cascading crises in the Middle East, the collapse of the architecture of Western security in the Sahel and the intensification of great power competition for influence on the African continent Written in the present tense to reflect the current status of the exercise, this essay argues that African Lion 2026 constitutes a real-time demonstration of Western deterrence capacity, an affirmation of Morocco’s irreplaceable role as a hub of transcontinental security and a strong strategic statement at a time when this role is more contested – and more fraught with consequences – than ever before in the history of the exercise.

Introduction: A lion in full stride

The desert firing ranges of Tan-Tan today echo with live artillery fire. At the Cap Draa training ground on Morocco’s wild Atlantic coast, M119A3 howitzers from the 173rd Mobile Combat Brigade complete their live-fire qualifications (Table VI) in preparation for the exercise’s final combined arms demonstration. At the Southern Zone headquarters in Agadir, more than 400 multinational military personnel are undergoing 22 intensive training courses covering unmanned aerial systems (UAS), cyber defense and satellite operations. In Benguerir, Taroudant, Kénitra, Dakhla and Tifnit, American and Moroccan forces are carrying out joint land, air and maritime maneuvers. The African Lion 2026 exercise is underway.

This is the twenty-second edition of this flagship AFRICOM annual exercise, which takes place in a particularly tense geopolitical context. The Middle East remains marked by the humanitarian catastrophe which began in Gaza in 2023 and which has since reshaped the diplomatic contours of the region. The Sahel has completed its break with Western security frameworks, with the Alliance of Sahel States (AES) – Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger – now operating outside ECOWAS and increasing its dependence on Russian and Chinese security providers (Council Report security, 2025). Competition among great powers for Africa’s strategic mineral resources, ports and political influence has intensified to a level not seen since the Cold War. In this context, the African Lion 2026 exercise is not a routine training exercise, but a deliberate affirmation of our capabilities, our determination, our partnership and Morocco’s central and permanent strategic role in American and Western security planning.

This essay defends three interrelated propositions. First, African Lion 2026 represents a qualitative evolution in multi-domain military cooperation, opening new perspectives in AI-assisted command and control, autonomous systems and electromagnetic warfare, thereby meeting the demands of 21st century conflicts century. Second, Morocco’s role as main host country and privileged partner is the result of decades of institutional investment and remains unrivaled on the African continent – a status today at the heart of debates, the possibility of transferring the neighborhood Headquarters of AFRICOM in Stuttgart, Morocco is now a major topic of strategic discussion. Third, the conduct of this exercise at a specific political moment – when two American soldiers are missing on the Moroccan Atlantic coast and a search and rescue operation is underway, involving American and Moroccan resources – confers on the partnership American-Moroccan a concrete dimension rather than a diplomatic abstraction, and underlines both the risks and the depth of trust which characterize it. I. African Lion 2026: The exercise in real time

Exercise African Lion 2026 began on April 13, 2026, when military forces from Tunisia, the United States, France, Italy and partner countries inaugurated it at the El Aouina air base in Tunis. Tunisia thus hosted this exercise for the tenth consecutive year (AFRICOM, 2026a). The Tunisian phase, which ended on April 30, saw approximately 560 military personnel conduct synchronized maneuvers focused on air-ground integration, counter-improvised explosive device (IED) tactics, special forces maneuvers and combat training. CBRN defense (US Army, 2026a). The joint training of the Wyoming National Guard with Tunisian forces in CBRN risk mitigation, part of the 22nd anniversary of the Wyoming-Tunisia State Partnership Program, illustrates the institutional depth that distinguishes African Lion from ad hoc coalitions (AFRICOM, 2026a). The Moroccan phase – where the exercise reached its peak since May 6 – was officially launched on April 27, 2026 at the southern zone headquarters in Agadir, during a ceremony co-chaired by the Major General Benlouali of the Royal Moroccan Armed Forces and Brigadier General Cederman of the SETAF-AF (US Army, 2026b). This phase is the largest component of AL26, covering six sites: Benguerir, Agadir, Tan-Tan, Taroudant, Dakhla and Tifnit (Morocco World News, 2026). The inclusion of Dakhla – located in Moroccan Western Sahara – is of major geopolitical importance; it reflects the recognition by the United States of Moroccan sovereignty over the region as part of the 2020 Abraham Accords and constitutes an implicit reaffirmation of this recognition through a military exercise.

AL26’s training program is the most technologically sophisticated in exercise history. This exercise introduces new areas of competition never before integrated at this scale: space operations, electromagnetic warfare and AI-assisted command and control (C2) are now integrated into the planning and execution phases of the exercise (Morocco World News, 2026; DefenseWeb, 2026). More than 30 U.S. defense contractors are actively participating in AL26, using the exercise as a real-world validation environment for new capabilities in mission command, deep attack, deep defense, and counterattack systems (DefenceWeb, 2026). Technologies evaluated include autonomous systems, AI-assisted C2 platforms, anti-drone solutions and advanced intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) platforms. US Army Cyber ​​Protection Team instructors provide direct training to Moroccan partner forces on threat hunting, cyber security posture, and critical infrastructure defense (US Army, 2026c). The academic phase alone involved more than 400 multinational military personnel in 22 intensive courses in Agadir from April 20 to 30 (U.S. Army, 2026c).

The humanitarian and civil assistance dimension continues to be deployed in parallel with the military components. As part of the State Partnership Program, now in its 23rd year of collaboration between the Utah National Guard and Morocco, medical teams are currently treating approximately 20,000 patients over an 11-day period in rural El Faid, Taroudant, and Dakhla (US Army, 2026b; DefenseWeb, 2026). This combination of show of force and humanitarian action – live artillery fire in the morning, medical consultations in the afternoon – illustrates the strategic duality that makes African Lion an instrument of global engagement rather than a simple demonstration of military force.

II. From bilateral exercise to platform multidomaineÂ: the trajectory ofAfrican Lion

To fully understand what African Lion 2026 represents, it is essential to trace its evolution. This exercise began in the late 1990s as a modest biannual bilateral training exercise between the US Marines and the Royal Moroccan Armed Forces, under the auspices of the US European Command (Yabiladi, 2025). Its objectives were then precise: basic infantry interoperability, familiarization with allied procedures and the maintenance of human relations between two partner armies since the recognition of American independence by Morocco in 1777 (AFRICOM Media Briefing, 2026). The creation of AFRICOM in 2007 transformed both the institutional framework and the strategic ambitions of the exercise, placing it in a trajectory of constant expansion which continues today.

This growth was both quantitative and qualitative. The 2021 edition, which resumed on a large scale after the disruption caused by COVID-19, mobilized around 7,000 people from nine nations. The 2024 edition brought together some 8,100 participants from around thirty countries. The 2025 edition set a record with more than 10,000 soldiers from more than 50 nations. AL26, although slightly smaller in terms of numbers (5,600 soldiers from more than 40 nations), testifies to a deliberate strategic refocusing on quality rather than quantity: fewer participants, but a much larger technological and doctrinal program sophisticated (SETAF-AF, 2026; DefenseWeb, 2026). The general staff of the African Forces of Africa (FAR) noted that, during the last five editions, more than 40,000 soldiers participated in African Lion, a cumulative figure which underlines the role of this exercise as the main vector of military interoperability between the United States and Africa (Maghrebi, 2025).

The doctrinal evolution is just as remarkable. What began as combined arms infantry training has expanded, through successive iterations, to encompass airborne operations, amphibious landings, maritime interdiction, CBRN defense, special operations, cyber attack and cyber defense, drone integration and, now – as part of African Lion 2026 – space operations and electromagnetic warfare (Morocco World News, 2026; AFRICOM, 2026a). This progression reflects the very evolution of the threat environment: the adversaries facing African partner countries today operate across the entire electromagnetic spectrum, exploit cyber vulnerabilities, deploy swarms of commercial drones and contest access to satellite communications. African Lion 2026 prepares troops for these new adversaries, not for the conflicts of the 20th century.

III. Morocco, an indispensable partner: geography, trust and strategic capital

No other African country could welcome African Lion as its main host country, and this is no coincidence: it is the fruit of a coherent strategic logic which operates simultaneously on several levels. Geographically, Morocco controls the Strait of Gibraltar, through which approximately 15% of global maritime trade passes, and has sovereign coasts on the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea (Missile Strikes, 2025). This dual maritime presence, combined with the diversity of its relief – Atlantic coast, Sahara desert, Atlas mountains, Mediterranean coast – offers training environments of unequaled richness for all the scenarios faced by the forces. of AFRICOM could be confronted. The integration of Dakhla into the AL26 area of ​​operations extends this territorial advantage to the southern borders of North Africa.

Institutionally, Morocco offers what most African partners cannot offer: decades of continuous and growing military cooperation, having enabled true interoperability at the tactical, operational and doctrinal levels. The Utah State Partnership Program with Morocco, led jointly by the Utah National Guard and Tunisia, is entering its 23rd year; the Wyoming National Guard maintains a parallel partnership with Tunisia, which has lasted for 22 years (DefenceWeb, 2026; AFRICOM, 2026a). These are not symbolic agreements, but lasting human relationships, anchored in training schedules, joint planning cycles and the sharing of operational experiences. General Dagvin Anderson, commander of AFRICOM since August 2025, described Morocco as a central element of the US strategy for Africa, emphasizing during his visits to Morocco and Tunisia in 2025 the importance of developing “centers of excellence” and “force multipliers” capable of projecting capabilities across the continent (AFRICOM Press Briefing, 2026). The political stability of Morocco, under the constitutional monarchy of King Mohammed VI, guarantees the institutional constancy essential to the smooth running of major multinational exercises. African Lion 2026 (AL26) is being carried out on royal instructions, with King Mohammed VI entrusting the Royal Armed Forces (FAR) with organizing the exercise in his capacity as supreme commander and chief of staff of the Royal Armed Forces (Morocco World News, 2026). This royal approval ensures that AL26 cannot be disrupted by governmental fragility, political reversals or diplomatic ruptures of the type caused by coups d’état, such as those which ended Western military cooperation in the Sahel. It also testifies, to the more than 40 participating nations, that Morocco’s commitment to multilateral security cooperation is a question of national identity, and not a simple preference of the current administration.

The strategic debate on the future role of Morocco today takes on unprecedented importance in the history of this partnership. Recurring speculation – based on exploratory studies allegedly commissioned by US defense planners – regarding the transfer of AFRICOM headquarters from Stuttgart to Kenitra Air Base in Morocco has been rife a renewed interest in the current geopolitical context (Morocco World News, 2026; African Narratives, 2025). The argument is convincing: AFRICOM was created in 2007 with a mandate focused on Africa, and yet, almost twenty years later, its headquarters remains in Germany, dependent on European political dynamics and geographically distant from the theaters of operations that it is supposed to manage. Morocco’s mature military infrastructure, its proven interoperability with American forces and its geographic position at the crossroads of Europe, Africa and the Atlantic make it the most credible candidate for such a transfer. The outcome of this debate remains uncertain, but its very existence testifies to the indispensable role that Morocco has become for American military strategy in Africa.

IV. The Sahel in free fall and the strategic value of Moroccan stability

African Lion 2026 takes place in a context of unprecedented deterioration of security in the Sahel since the region’s independence. The Tripartite Alliance of Sahel States officially left ECOWAS in January 2025, destroying the regional institutional framework that constituted the main platform for collective security governance in West Africa (RUSI, 2025). Russian mercenaries, operating under the successor structures of the Wagner Group, established themselves in AES territories, while France was expelled, American drones and intelligence assets were withdrawn, and the surveillance capabilities on which AFRICOM relied to track down extremist networks have been greatly reduced (New Lines Institute, 2026). General Langley, in testimony before Congress before his departure from command of AFRICOM, described the Sahel as “the global epicenter of terrorism” – a characterization that simultaneously recognizes the scale of the threat and the inadequacy of current Western responses (New Lines Institute, 2026).

In this context, Morocco offers an increasingly rare and valuable resource: a stable partner, aligned with the West, benefiting from the geographic proximity, institutional capacities and political will necessary to serve as a pillar of regional cooperation in matters of security. Morocco’s Atlantic Initiative – its ambitious infrastructure program aimed at providing landlocked Sahel countries with access to Atlantic ports, thereby reducing their dependence on hostile neighbors and creating new economic corridors – represents a form of strategic soft power that completes the African Lion’s demonstration of hard power (African Narratives, 2025; RUSI, 2025). Access to Moroccan ports, RUSI analysts note, constitutes a critical economic lifeline that could incentivize Sahel states to maintain constructive international engagement, even if their governments ally themselves with other security actors (RUSI, 2025).

The AL26 operational scenarios directly reflect this Sahelian context. The command post simulation of the exercise is based on the principle of a combined joint operational force intervening in the face of a complex trans-regional crisis – a scenario that would prevail if extremist networks, taking advantage of the governance vacuum in the Sahel, threatened the stability of West African coastal states or extended their operations north to the borders of Morocco (SETAF-AF, 2026; AFRICOM, 2026b). The integration of 19 African countries, six European nations and participants from South America and the Middle East. AL26 reflects AFRICOM’s vision of African Lion as a true global security platform, leveraging Morocco’s unique continental position as a fulcrum for coalition building (AFRICOM Press Briefing, 2026). the construction of a coalition network capable of being quickly activated in the event of a real crisis V. in the shadow of Gaza and the absent soldiers: Contradictions at the water’s edge.

The present of the African Lion 2026 exercise includes an unforeseen event: on May 2, 2026, two American soldiers participating in AL26 were reported missing near the Cap Draa training area, not far from the town of Tan Tan, after a apparent fall of coastal cliffs into the Atlantic Ocean (AFRICOM, 2026c; Al Jazeera, 2026). Search and rescue operations were immediately and massively mobilized, involving American, Moroccan and other allied assets – ground teams, helicopters, drones and ships – working together in some of the most rugged coastal terrain and hostiles from North Africa (IBTimes, 2026). Currently, the search continues, the investigation is underway and the families of the missing soldiers live in deep anguish. This incident, tragic in its human aspect, also concretely illustrates what the American-Moroccan partnership means. The reaction was immediate, joint and sustained: Moroccan forces deployed considerable resources to search for American personnel on their sovereign territory, in extremely difficult conditions and without any guarantee of success. It is this partnership that African Lion has built over 22 editions: not only the capacity to fire together with HIMARS missiles or to train for airborne insertion, but also the institutional reflex to consider the emergency of an ally as its own. This incident also highlights the real physical risks associated with training in Morocco’s demanding environment, a reality that has always been an integral part of the operational value and human cost of the exercise.

The 2026 edition of African Lion also takes place against the continuing context of the Gaza conflict. The Palestinian humanitarian crisis, which erupted in October 2023, is still not resolved. Despite a ceasefire in principle in October 2025, international observers – notably analysts from the Arab Center in Washington – note that the continuation of Israeli violence, the maintenance of restrictions on humanitarian aid and active territorial annexations make the Palestinian question an open wound in Arab public opinion (Arab Center in Washington, 2026). Morocco, which normalized its relations with Israel as part of the 2020 Abraham Accords in exchange for recognition by the United States of the sovereignty of Western Sahara, manages this contradiction with the rigorous pragmatism of a state which has integrated what analysts call the “Functional sovereignty”: the desire to subordinate ideological solidarity to concrete national security interests (Ynet News, 2026).

The internal pressures this creates are very real and should not be underestimated. The “Gen Z 212” movement, which mobilized more than 250,000 members via encrypted platforms to protest government priorities after the conflict in Gaza, has not disappeared (Ynet News, 2026). The Moroccan government responded by constantly reaffirming Palestinian rights at the United Nations, delivering humanitarian aid to Gaza, and maintaining a public stance of solidarity with Palestinian civilians, while continuing without interruption the African Lion 2026 exercise. highlights this tension, noting that a prolonged confrontation in Gaza “could affect the Moroccan government’s willingness to maintain” full security cooperation (US Department of State, 2022). The fact that African Lion 2026 is taking place at full operational speed, even though this essay is being written and that American soldiers are still missing off the Moroccan coast, testifies to the solidity of a partnership that has been established to the test and who resisted.

VI. Innovation as a strategy: the technological frontier of AL26

African Lion 2026 marks the most technologically ambitious edition in its history, and this is no coincidence. The integration of AI-assisted command and control, autonomous systems, electromagnetic warfare, space operations, and counter-drone training into the AL26 program demonstrates a thorough analysis of the threats that U.S. forces and their partners will face during of the next decade of conflict in Africa (DefenceWeb, 2026; Morocco World News, 2026). Commercial drones have become omnipresent weapons of asymmetric warfare; GPS jamming and spoofing are common operational tools among Russians and extremist groups; Satellite communications are contested today in ways that were theoretical a decade ago. AL26 prepares for future wars, not those of the past.

Particularly noteworthy is the integration of more than 30 U.S. defense suppliers into the AL26 operational framework. These are not simple observers; They actively participate in the exercise, leveraging the complex multinational environment to validate emerging systems under true operational pressure (DefenceWeb, 2026). This public-private dimension of AfricanLion reflects the broader evolution of the US military innovation strategy, in which commercial technology companies are integrated into the operational test cycle rather than separated from it. For Morocco, whose military modernization program includes the upgrade of F-16Vs, Apache attack helicopters, FREMM frigates and drone and air defense systems of Israeli origin, participation in this technological ecosystem provides access to advanced U.S. systems and doctrine that would otherwise require separate bilateral agreements (Missile Strikes, 2025).

The academic phase of AL26 – 22 intensive courses delivered to more than 400 multinational military personnel at the Southern Zone headquarters in Agadir – deserves special attention from researchers as a model of capacity building that goes beyond assistance traditional security (US Army, 2026c). By directly training partner nation forces in cyber security, drone operations and satellite communications, AL26 creates sustainable local capabilities that endure long after the exercise ends. As emphasized by Lt. Mason Elizondo, instructor of the US Army Cyber Protection Team, when training Moroccan personnel in threat detection and critical infrastructure defense, the goal is to ensure that partner forces can deploy effectively without a permanent US presence (US Army, 2026c). This is the realization of AFRICOM’s paradigm shift towards a “flexible partnership”: strengthening African capacities to face African threats, Morocco being the main actor in this effort.

Conclusion: The meaning of the Roar

On May 6, 2026, as these lines are written, the African Lion exercise is neither a historical subject nor a strategic abstraction. It is a very real event, perceptible in the howitzer fire at Cape Draa and visible in the drone training above the desert sky of Agadir. He is present in the pain of the families who await news of two missing soldiers and in the joint Moroccan-American rescue teams who tirelessly continue the search. It is palpable in the tension between Morocco’s military alignment with the West and the unhealed wound of Gaza, as well as in the protests of Generation Z who insist that justice abroad and justice at home are inseparable. African Lion 2026 does not resolve these contradictions; he embodies them.

What this exercise helps to resolve, at least for this edition, is the question of whether the American-Moroccan partnership retains the institutional solidity and political will necessary to function under pressure. The answer, to date, is unequivocal: yes. More than 5,600 military personnel from more than 40 nations are operating jointly in four countries as part of a complex, multi-domain exercise. This exercise tests not only tactical skills, but also the ability of diverse military cultures, doctrines and technological systems to operate cohesively. Morocco is hosting this exercise on six sites located on its territory, including in Western Sahara, on royal instructions, in a particularly sensitive national and regional political context.

The strategic importance of this moment is crucial. The Sahel is in the midst of a crisis, Western influence over much of Africa is waning, and competition between great powers for the continent’s strategic resources and political alignment is intensifying. In this context, Morocco’s stability, its geographical position and its proven desire to host and lead the most important military exercise on the continent make it not only a valuable partner, but an essential partner. The AFRICOM commander himself described Morocco as a “model to follow”; the debate on the transfer of AFRICOM headquarters to Moroccan soil is no longer a simple speculation, but a major strategic discussion topic. African Lion 2026, unfolding in real time, is the most compelling argument for this assessment – ​​and the most eloquent demonstration of what a lasting partnership really looks like, built over 22 iterations and more than two decades, when it matters most.

Article19.ma