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Subject: Israel wants GBU-39 Small Diameter Bombs
doggtag    9/10/2008 8:16:12 AM
(Source: US Defense Security Cooperation Agency; issued Sept. 9, 2008) WASHINGTON --- The Defense Security Cooperation Agency notified Congress of a possible Foreign Military Sale to Israel of GBU-39 Small Diameter Bombs as well as associated equipment and services. The total value, if all options are exercised, could be as high as $77 million. The Government of Israel has requested a possible sale of 1,000 GBU-39 Small Diameter Bombs (SDB1), 150 BRU-61/A SDB1 Mounting Carriages, 30 Guided Test Vehicles, 2 BRU-61/A SDB Instrumented Carriages, 7 Jettison Test Vehicles, 1 Separation Test Vehicle, 2 Reliability and Assessment Vehicles, 12 Common Munitions BIT and Reprogramming Equipment with Test Equipment and Adapters, 3 SDB1 Weapons Simulators, and 2 Load Crew Trainers. Also includes containers, flight test integration, spare and repair parts, support equipment, personnel training and equipment, publications and technical data, U.S. Government and contractor engineering and logistics personnel services, and other related elements of logistics support. The estimated cost is $77 million. Israel’s strategic position makes it vital to the United States’ interests throughout the Middle East. Our policy has been to promote Middle East peace, support Israel’s commitment to peace with other regional Arab countries, enhance regional stability and promote Israeli readiness and self-sufficiency. It is vital to the U.S. national interests to assist Israel to develop and maintain a strong and ready self-defense capability. This proposed sale is consistent with those objectives. Israel will have no difficulty absorbing these additional bombs into its armed forces. The proposed sale will not affect the basic military balance in the region. The principal contractor will be Boeing Integrated Defense Systems, Boeing Corporation, St. Louis, MO. There are no known offset agreements proposed in connection with this potential sale. Implementation of this proposed sale will involve multiple trips to Israel by U.S. Government and contractor representatives for one-week intervals, for approximately three years. There will be no adverse impact on U.S. defense readiness as a result of this proposed sale. This notice of a potential sale is required by law; it does not mean that the sale has been concluded. -ends- ------------------ 1000 of them? Wow, somebody's tooling up for something, it seems... (another just-in-case insurance policy: how many quad ejectors could Israel's F-15s and F-16s carry all at once? (they still use Kfirs?)) Still, at ~$77M, that seems like a bargain...or would actual additional costs be offset by the US Foreign Military Sales clauses that favor Israel's self defense "self sufficiency" ?
 
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FJV       9/10/2008 12:19:59 PM
A 1000 dead terror leaders, technicians, financers, etc with minimal civilian casualties.
 
I cannot determine whether it makes a difference, I don't have statistics on the total number of such guys out there.
 
 
 

 
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warpig       9/10/2008 1:42:41 PM
I don't understand.  Why aren't they trying to buy AASM from the French instead of SDBs from us?  Haven' tthey been reading BW's posts?
 
 
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doggtag       9/10/2008 3:14:02 PM
'Coz the AASMs can't quad pack in as small a space as 4 SDBs?
 (maybe an AASM Jr (would that be "AASM petite'" in french?) is in the works,..at which point we can then debate why the air-launched NetFires, and that future British "Super Sea Skua" contemplate-it-when-we-have-time munition, are both superior, and France shouldn't even have wasted the money to begin with?)
 
 
Doin' the math on that Israeli request, 150 ejectors/dispensors only carries 600 of those 1000 SDBs at any one given time,
and that comes down to 4 dispensors on not even 40 aircraft...didn't Israel have upwards of 80-90-some combat-ready aircraft (F-15s, F-16s, etc), as was discussed in other threads about theoretical strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities?
...those remaining pylons could carry the heavier stuff, >1000pounds....theoretically, anyway.
 
Has anyone suggested that SDBs be carried singly, or double/triple clustered, on hardpoints that just aren't strengthened enough for a full quad pack? There's a lot of trainers out there that could be turned into instant bomb-truck-lites if that's the case, let alone the multitude of armed UAVs whose pylons seldom carry anything much bigger than a Hellfire.
 
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