More than a week after the beginning of Operation Epic Fury, the government of the United States has authorized the sale of a new batch of thousands of BLU-110A/B general-purpose bombs for the Israeli Air Force. This follows from one of the recent notifications sent by the Department of State to the U.S. Congress in order to approve the urgent operation, valued at US$151.8 million.
The BLU-110, also referred to as the MK 83, is a 1,000-pound (equivalent to 450 kilograms) general-purpose bomb widely adopted by the United States Air Force and its allies.
One of its main characteristics is its compatibility with various types of precision guidance systems and a wide variety of launch platforms, ranging from fighter and attack aircraft to strategic bombers. Among the mentioned guidance systems and kits are laser-guided systems (GBU-16 Paveway) and GPS-guided kits (GBU-32 JDAM).
According to what was communicated on March 6 by the Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA), the Israeli government requested from the United States the purchase of twelve thousand (12,000) BLU-110A/B general-purpose bombs. The operation, which includes engineering support, logistics, and assistance contracts, has Repkon USA as its main supplier.
The Department of State indicated that “…it has determined and provided a detailed justification that an emergency exists requiring the immediate sale to the Government of Israel of the above-mentioned defense articles and services in the interest of the national security of the United States, therefore waiving the congressional review requirements set forth in Section 36(b) of the Arms Export Control Act, as amended.”
*Photographs used for illustrative purposes only.
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