US Approves $320.5Mln Sale Of Guided Munitions Kits To NATO Unit - Defense Agency

WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 20th November, 2018) The US Department of State has signed off on a proposed sale of precision guided munitions kits to the NATO Support and Procurement unit at an estimated cost of $320.5 million, the Defense Security Cooperation Agency said in a press release.

"The components that comprise the kits are: five hundred (500) KMU [kit munitions unit]-556 F/B Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) Kits for GBU [guided bomb unit]-31 2000-lbs; forty (40) KMU-557 F/B JDAM Kits for GBU-31 2000-lbs; one thousand five hundred (1,500) KMU-572 F/B JDAM Kits for GBU-38 500-lbs; one thousand (1,000) Munitions Adapter Unit (MAU)-210 F/B Enhanced Computer Control Groups (ECCGs) for GBU-48 1,000-lb [bombs and other items]," the release said on Monday.

The Defense Security Cooperation Agency explained that NATO will use the enhanced capability as a deterrent to regional threats, and to increase interoperability within contingency operations.

This proposed sale supports the foreign policy and national security of the United States by increasing the flexibility of Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain and the United Kingdom - twelve NATO nations and one Partnership for Peace nation - to contribute to overseas contingency operations, the release said.

Many of the purchasing nations already have precision-guided munitions in their inventories; and they will all have no difficulty absorbing the kits, the release added.