The Defense Security Cooperation Agency delivered the required certification notifying Congress of this possible sale on May 18, 2015. [ismember]Notification[/ismember]
[ismember]The majority of the weapons included in the announced package are Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) Tail Kits built by Boeing. Israel requested 14,500 such tail kits (KMU-556C/B), fitted to general purpose bombs, enabling the fighter planes to target each bomb to a specific target, defined by GPS coordinates. The majority of tail kits are designed for 900 kg (2,000 lb) Mk-84 bombs. while 4,000 are designed to fit the smaller, quarter-ton class Mk-82 weapons (500 pounds).
The ordnance package also include 12,000 general purpose bombs associated with those kits – including Mk-82, Mk-83 and Mk-84 types. Israel is also producing those bombs in country, at the IMI heavy ordnance plant. The company developed the MPR-500 which has been type qualified by Boeing for the JDAM. The shipment will also include 500 DSU-38A/B Detector Laser Illuminated Target kits, enabling the JDAMs to engage laser-designated moving targets. These weapons can be carried by all of israel’s fighter jets, including the future F-35 expected to arrive in Israel by 2017.
Israel will also receive 4,100 GBU-39 Small Diameter Bombs (SDB), a compact precision guided weapon produced by Boeing, and employed by Israel’s Boeing F-15I strike fighters. These aircraft will also receive 50 deep penetration bombs of the BLU-113 type (GBU-28) and 700 BLU-109 penetrating warheads. The BLU-113 5,000-pound ‘Bunker Busters’ carry 630 pounds of high explosives, encased in a hard steel shell that can penetrate 20 feet (six meters) of reinforced concrete. The BLU-109 packs 530 pounds (240 kg) of explosives, in a case weighing 1,927 pounds (874 kg) that can penetrate about six meters of reinforced concrete. These bomb shells are produced by the Ordnance Technical Systems division of General Dynamics (GDOTS)
![GBU-28 dropped from an U.S. Air Force F-15E. The Strike Eagle and B-2A are the only two aircraft in U.S. Air Force inventory capable of carrying this heavy weapon. Photo: USAF](http://defense-update.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/f15_gbu28-e1432136306977.jpg)
The BLU-113 is often joined with a laser guidance kit enabling the weapon to strike stationary or moving targets with very high precision. The arms package includes 1,500 such kits, The BLU-109 is also coupled with a similar laser guidance kit. As part of the new package the IAF will receive 1,500 Mk-83 Paveway kits and 700 BLU-109 Paveway kits. It will also include the supply of 3,000 AGM-114K/R Hellfire missiles often used by the AH-64 Apache helicopter gunships, and 250 AIM-120C Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missiles, providing the primary interceptor for Israel’s F-16s, F-15s and future F-35. These missiles are produced by Raytheon and Lockheed Martin.