Planning Begins for African Lion 2027, Africa’s Largest Military Exercise
Moroccan and US military planners have held the first planning conference for Exercise African Lion 2027, laying early groundwork for what is already billed as Africa’s largest multinational military exercise.
Photo: US and Moroccan forces during a recent iteration of Exercise African Lion in Agadir, Morocco. Credit: Staff Sgt. Amanda McLean, US Army, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
The Royal Moroccan Armed Forces (FAR) and the US Army Southern European Task Force, Africa (SETAF-AF) — one of six component teams under US Africa Command (AFRICOM) — are co-leading African Lion 2027 and held their initial planning event at the FAR’s Southern Zone headquarters in Agadir, according to defenceWeb. A main planning session is due in December and a final planning conference in February, ahead of the exercise itself starting in April 2027. Early indications point to more than 45 participating countries across air, land, sea, cyber, space and intelligence domains, though the final roster has not been confirmed.
What is still being decided
Planners are weighing a slate of activities for the 2027 edition, including combined-arms manoeuvres, live-fire exercises, maritime and air operations, and a command field exercise intended as the centrepiece. Other options under consideration include weapons-of-mass-destruction response training in Agadir, special-operations training at Cap Draa, humanitarian civic-assistance projects, and an academic programme spanning joint operations planning, intelligence, cybersecurity, electronic warfare and non-commissioned-officer development. Industry vendors and partners are also expected to be worked into training activity so new technology can be tested alongside participating units. “African Lion remains focused on building combined joint force readiness,” lead planner Lt. Col. Corbett Baxter said of the planning process, while Col. Benjamin Roark, SETAF-AF’s director of training and exercises, said the Agadir conference is “where we begin laying the groundwork for African Lion 2027.”
A 20-plus-year partnership
African Lion has grown steadily since its creation as a bilateral US-Morocco drill into AFRICOM’s signature annual exercise, typically rotating through Morocco alongside Tunisia, Senegal and other African partners, along with European allies. This year’s cycle is tied to the 250th anniversary of US-Moroccan relations, a relationship Washington traces to Morocco’s early recognition of American independence. That anniversary featured prominently at the Marrakech Airshow (7-10 October), where roughly 45 US personnel took part, including an F-35A flyover, with US Air Force Brig. Gen. Matthew J. French calling it “an honor to be at Marrakech ahead of the 250th anniversary of the US-Moroccan Alliance.” The African Lion partnership has run alongside a broader expansion of US-Morocco defence-industrial ties, including Morocco’s pending F-16 Block 72 deliveries and a 2026-2036 defence roadmap signed in Washington in April.
Why it matters for Africa
African Lion’s scale makes it one of the clearest barometers of US and allied military engagement on the continent, at a time when Washington has scaled back some other forms of African security assistance. For Morocco, hosting the exercise each year reinforces its position as the US’s premier security partner in North Africa and gives the FAR sustained interoperability training with NATO-standard forces across every domain, from cyberspace to special operations. For the 45-plus participating nations, many from West and sub-Saharan Africa, the exercise offers a rare multinational training environment and direct exposure to allied doctrine, equipment and planning processes without the costs of a bilateral programme. The exercise’s growth also underscores Morocco’s broader bid to position itself as the logistics and training hub for Western security engagement in Africa, alongside its fast-expanding defence-industrial base.
Sources
Related: Morocco’s First F-16 Block 72 Completes Maiden Test Flight | Israel, US and Europe Pack Morocco’s Marrakech Airshow 2026
See also DefenceMENA’s Morocco desk and Morocco military profile.
