DefenceTalkThe US military on Thursday dropped the largest non-nuclear bomb ever deployed in combat, targeting an Islamic State complex in Afghanistan, the Pentagon said. The GBU-43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast bomb — better known by its nickname, the “Mother Of All Bombs” — hit a tunnel complex at 7:32 pm (1502 GMT) in Achin district […]https://www.defencetalk.com/us-drops-mother-of-all-bombs-in-afghanistan-69728/

DefenceTalkThe 33rd Fighter Wing loaded and released the Air Education and Training Command’s first live bombs from an F-35A here, January 17. In total, six aircraft were loaded with armed GBU-12s, and two bombs were released over the Eglin Air Force Base range. The GBU-12 is a 500-pound laser guided general-purpose bomb. The F-35 can […]https://www.defencetalk.com/f-35a-training-aircraft-drop-gbu-12-bombs-for-the-first-time-68869/

DefenceTalkA leading U.S.-based foreign policy journal says the White House has quietly suspended the transfer of cluster bombs to ally Saudi Arabia, in response to the Sunni kingdom’s aerial war against Shi’ite rebels in Yemen. Foreign Policy magazine, in a news story published Friday, quoted an unnamed senior U.S. official as saying a hold was […]https://www.defencetalk.com/report-white-house-suspends-cluster-bomb-transfers-to-saudi-arabia-67548/

DefenceTalkThe F-35A Lightning II program took another step toward initial operational capability yesterday when two aircraft assigned to the 62nd Fighter Squadron successfully employed four laser-guided bombs on the Barry M. Goldwater Range. This marked the first weapons release by F-35s assigned to the 56th Fighter Wing at Luke Air Force Base. “Yesterday we were […]https://www.defencetalk.com/f-35as-drop-first-laser-guided-bombs-67091/

DefenceTalkRaytheon and the U.S. Navy have conducted a successful operational test of the new Joint Standoff Weapon (JSOW) C-1 gliding, precision-guided weapon. Conducted in a challenging flight environment, the test further demonstrated the capabilities of JSOW C-1 against a broad set of land targets. Launched from an F/A-18F Super Hornet at approximately 29,000 feet, the […]https://www.defencetalk.com/jsow-c-1-gliding-weapon-scores-direct-hit-in-1st-operational-test-66777/

DefenceTalkThe State Department has made a determination approving a possible Foreign Military Sale to the Government of Saudi Arabia for air-to-ground munitions and associated equipment, parts and logistical support for an estimated cost of $1.29 billion. The Defense Security Cooperation Agency delivered the required certification notifying Congress of this possible sale on November 13, 2015. […]https://www.defencetalk.com/saudi-arabia-to-buy-guided-bombs-air-to-ground-munitions-65857/

DefenceTalkThe State Department has made a determination approving a possible Foreign Military Sale to Turkey for Joint Direct Attack Munitions (JDAM) and associated equipment, parts and logistical support for an estimated cost of $70 million. The Defense Security Cooperation Agency delivered the required certification notifying Congress of this possible sale on October 28, 2015. The […]https://www.defencetalk.com/turkey-to-buy-joint-direct-attack-munitions-jdam-65728/

DefenceTalkThe Russian Air Force has being employing a wide spectrum of precision-guided munitions in Syria as part of the operation against the Islamic State (IS) terrorist group banned in Russia, Konstantin Sivkov, Ph.D., writes in the Military Industrial Courier weekly. “The Kh-29 (NATO reporting name: AS-14 Kedge) and Kh-25 (AS-10 Karen) air-to-surface missiles – both […]https://www.defencetalk.com/russian-aircraft-using-wide-range-of-guided-weapons-in-syria-65724/

DefenceTalkHuman Rights Watch on Sunday accused Russia of being behind the use of new advanced cluster munitions in Syria, by dropping them from its warplanes or supplying them to the Damascus regime. The New York-based group said that photographs it obtained showed that the cluster munitions were dropped on Kafr Halab, a village southwest of […]https://www.defencetalk.com/russia-accused-over-use-of-new-cluster-bombs-in-syria-65595/

DefenceTalkThe F-35 Lightning II program made aviation history June 12 as Royal Air Force (RAF) Test Pilot Squadron Leader Andy Edgell released two inert 500-pound dual mode Paveway IV precision-guided bombs from aircraft BF-03 over the Atlantic Test Ranges. The inaugural weapons separation test of the Paveway IV conducted by the F-35 Lightning II Patuxent […]https://www.defencetalk.com/f-35b-aces-first-release-of-a-uk-paveway-iv-bomb-64578/