Washington, December 02: The US Defense Department has proposed to sell 600 bunker busters and other ammunitions worth USD 304 million to the United Arab Emirates.
The Pentagon said in a mandatory arms sale notice that the deal would include 4,900 tail kits built by Boeing that can turn unguided free-fall bombs into guided weapons as well as 4,300 ‘general purpose’ bombs, Reuters reported.
The BLU-109 ‘Hard Target Penetrator’ bomb, or bunker buster, is a 2,000-pound (900-kg) explosive designed to be used against buried enemy command posts, munitions depots, and other hardened targets before using a delayed fuse to explode.
Lawmakers have 30 days to either accept or reject a foreign military sale offer after its formal notification. None such proposal has been rejected to date.
The report comes as Washington is increasing its efforts to sell weapons to several Middle Eastern states — a move described by analysts to be part of a push for triggering an arms race in the strategically-important part of the world.
The administration of the US President Barack Obama has shored up the Persian Gulf littoral states of Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Oman, Qatar, UAE, and Kuwait with major arms deals over the recent years.
The deals include a record multi-billion plan to sell Riyadh advanced F-15 aircraft, some 907-kilogram (2000-lb) JDAMs and other powerful munitions.
The US government has also approved of the sale of a multi-billion missile program to the UAE.
Experts note that the US support for unpopular the regional governments and its arms sales to them counter Washington’s claims of backing democracy in the region.
——-Agencies