The State Department “informally” notified Congress of the proposed $8bn arms package, which will include munitions for fighter jets and attack helicopters as well as artillery shells, the Axios news site reports, citing two anonymous sources.
The sources said the package includes air-to-air missiles for fighter jets to defend against airborne threats, including drones, as well as 155mm artillery shells and Hellfire AGM-114 missiles for attack helicopters, reports Al Jazeera.
The deal also includes small-diameter bombs, JDAM tail kits that turn “dumb bombs” into precision munitions, 500-pound (230kg) warheads and bomb fuzes, the sources said.
The package, which would be the Biden administration’s last before the outgoing president leaves office this month, will need approval from the House of Representatives and Senate foreign relations committees.
Bd-pratidin English/Tanvir Raihan
