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.
In a nighttime ceremony contrived to continue concealment of many of its features, the new B-21 bomber rolled out of Northrop Grumman's Palmdale, Calif. plant Dec. 2. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said the aircraft's advanced technology represents "deterrence, the American way."