The Defense Department has notified Congress of a potential foreign military sale of the Boeing-built Small Diameter Bomb to the Netherlands. According to the Defense Security Cooperation Agency’s release, the Dutch are interested in procuring 603 SDB Increment I systems and associated equipment, training, and logistics support for an estimated cost of $44 million. The SDB I is a 250-pound-class, precision-guided munition that has been in operational with the US Air Force since October 2006. There are already three international customers, including Israel and Italy.
A-10 Thunderbolt II attack planes in the Middle East are flying with fresh modifications as the Air Force looks to make the plane more versatile amid America’s ongoing blockade of Iranian ports and a tenuous ceasefire in the U.S. air war against Iran.