Morocco has completed its first 20 hulls of the Indian-designed WhAP 8×8 Wheeled Armoured Platform at a new facility in Berrechid marking an important milestone in local defence manufacturing for the Royal Moroccan Armed Forces.
The programme follows a September 2024 agreement between the Moroccan government and Tata Advanced Systems Limited to supply 150 vehicles. The WhAP was developed in partnership with India’s Defence Research and Development Organisation and is known locally as the Tata Kestrel.
Local subsidiary Metlonics Morocco confirmed the completion of the 20 hulls in March 2026. The first five finished vehicles were delivered in December 2025, with production now ramping up at a 20,000 square metre plant in the Casablanca industrial zone.
The facility, which opened in September 2025, is the first defence manufacturing site established by an Indian company in Africa. It currently handles around 35 percent of the production process, with plans to increase this to 50 percent as local skills and supply chains develop.
The WhAP 8×8 is a modular 24-ton amphibious armoured vehicle powered by a 600 hp engine and capable of speeds up to 100 km/h. It can be configured for troop transport, reconnaissance or fire support and is equipped with ballistic protection up to STANAG Level 4 depending on mission requirements.
Morocco began evaluating the platform in 2022 as part of its wider military modernisation programme aimed at replacing ageing armoured vehicles and expanding domestic defence industrial capacity.
