Textron Defense Systems has been awarded a $258 million contract to supply India with 512 of its CBU-105 Sensor Fused Weapons.
Announced on 8 December, the Foreign Military Sales deal also includes the provision of 44 training units to the Indian air force. So far, the US Air Force has assigned $126 million of the total contract value, the Department of Defense says.
The sale was first outlined by the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency in a September 2008 notification to Congress. At that time, it was projected as likely to cost up to $375 million, including options.
Each CBU-105 weapon weighs around 453kg (1,000lb) and deploys 10 submunitions, each containing four individual “skeet” warheads. The design has a “dud rate” of less than 1%, making it compliant with the terms of the Oslo Treaty, which outlaws the sale of cluster munitions.
The Indian air force has not confirmed which aircraft type the weapons will be installed on. However, Flightglobal believes that its Hindustan Aeronautics-built Sepecat Jaguar fleet is a strong candidate to field the system.
Source: FlightGlobal.com
