Friday, October 18, 2013

Pentagon to sell bunker busters, cruise missiles to Gulf monarchies in $11bn deal


He planned deal includes shipping 1,000 GBU-39/B bombs to Saudi Arabia and 5,000 to the UAE, AFP reports. They have air-deployed wings, which allow them to strike targets as far away as 110km. Their warheads can penetrate up to a meter of reinforced concrete.
The planned sale also includes sophisticated Standoff Land Attack Extended Range (SLAM-ER) and Joint Standoff Weapons (JSOW) cruise missiles. Both are meant for destroying surface targets from a long distance, allowing warplanes to stay out of the range of enemy air defenses.
The Saudis will purchase 650 of the Boeing-manufactured SLAM-ERs and 973 Raytheon-made JSOWs, as well as other missiles. They are to pay $6.8 billion for the hardware, parts, training and logistical support.
The United Arab Emirates is due to buy $4 billion worth of weaponry, including the bunker buster bombs, 300 SLAM-ERs and 1,200 JSOW missiles.

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