Sunday, September 14, 2008

US Selling Bunker Busters to Israel

The Department of Defense announced that the US will be selling "Bunker Buster" bombs to the Israeli Air Force. The Pentagon will be selling Israel 1000 of the "Guided Bomb Unit-39" (GBU-39) for a total of $77 million. The weapons are GPS guided. According to the report, the bombs can penetrate over 1.8 meters of concrete with an accuracy of 5-8 meters.

The bombs each way about 250 pounds and can be carried by smaller aircraft, such as the F-16 or F-15. The light weight of the bombs allows for longer range missions. The bomb is built by Boeing, who refers to it as a "Small Diameter Bomb" (SDB).

The US will also be upgrading Israel's "Patriot" systems and provide additional LAW rockets. Now the DOD just needs to include some F-22 Raptors to complete the package!

Even though the US is providing precision guided bunker busting bombs, I am sure Israel was likely told to only use them for "practice." 

The video below is a demo of the GBU-39.

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