Japan Cleared for $82M U.S. Sale of Precision Weapons

The U.S. State Department has approved a possible $82 million sale of precision-guided munitions, general-purpose bombs, guidance kits, and related equipment to Japan.

According to a notification from the Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) on Wednesday, Tokyo has requested up to 28 GBU-53 Small Diameter Bomb (SDB) Increment II all-up-rounds, which will be added to an earlier $81-million package. The combined notification now covers up to 120 GBU-39 SDB Increment I weapons and up to 28 GBU-53 SDB-II rounds.

The package also includes Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) tail kits used to convert unguided bombs into precision weapons: 30 KMU-556 kits for the GBU-31, 20 KMU-559 kits for the GBU-32, and 24 KMU-572 kits for the GBU-38.

Alongside precision-guided munitions, Japan will receive 24 MK-82 500-pound general-purpose bombs, 30 MK-84 2,000-pound bombs, and 21 BLU-110 1,000-pound bombs. The sale further includes FMU-139 programmable fuzes, DSU-38 laser sensors, practice bombs, weapon support equipment, maintenance support, training devices, spare parts, and other program elements.

Boeing and RTX will be the principal contractors for the package.