US approves North African air-launched munitions sales

The US has approved the sale of munitions to Egypt to equip its fleet of Apache attack helicopters. (Egyptian Ministry of Defence)

The United States has approved the sale of air-launched munitions to two North African countries, valued at a combined USD834.37 million.

Announced by the US Defense and Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) on 20 December, the State Department Foreign Military Sales (FMS) approvals cover air-launched munitions for Egypt and Morocco.

For Egypt, the approvals cover 2,183 Lockheed Martin AGM-114R Hellfire II precision-guided air-to-surface missiles for an estimated USD630 million, and 543 BAE Systems Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System (APKWS) laser-guided rockets for an estimated USD30 million.

The host aircraft is not identified in the DSCA approval notification, but the Egyptian Air Force (EAF) has previously acquired Hellfire missiles for its fleet of Boeing AH-64 Apache attack helicopters, and it is likely that the Apache is the intended recipient of both Hellfire and APKWS in this instance. The EAF also fields the IOMAX AT-802 Border Patrol Aircraft (BPA) that can carry the Hellfire.

For Morocco, the approvals cover 500 Boeing GBU-39/B Small Diameter Bomb I (SDB I) units for an estimated USD86 million, and 30 RTX AIM-120C-8 Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missiles (AMRAAMs) for an estimated USD88.37 million. The AMRAAM notification states these missiles are for the Royal Moroccan Air Force's (RMAF's) Lockheed Martin F-16C/D Block 72 Fighting Falcon combat aircraft, and it is likely that the SDB Is are as well.

For more information on the EAF and RMAF, please see Egypt – Air Force and Morocco – Air Force .