U.S. Stae Department approve new arms package to Canada, Small Diameter Bomb included.

FMS Approval

In an absolutely diabolical move by the State Department to drop on a Thursday afternoon, the United States has approved the potential sale of an absolutely massive Air Strike Weapons package for Canada.

This package, valued at $2.68 billion includes:

• 750 x GBU-39 practice bombs

• 100 x GBU-39 Guided Test Vehicles (GTVs)

• 100 x MK-82 inert filled bombs

• 220 x BLU-117 General Purpose (GP) bombs (2,000-lb)

• 146 x I-2000 penetrator warheads

• 3,414 x BLU-111 GP bombs (500-lb)

• 3,108 x GBU-39 Small Diameter Bomb Increment I (SDB-I)

• 2,004 x GBU-53 SDB-II (Small Diameter Bomb – Increment II)

• ​100 x GBU-53 SDB-II GTVs

• 5,352 x KMU-572 Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) guidance sets

• ​396 x KMU-556 JDAM guidance sets

• ​140 x KMU-557 JDAM guidance sets

• FMU-139 fuze systems

• FMU-167 Hard Target Void Sensing Fuzes (HTVSF).

• DSU-38 laser illuminated target detectors for the GBU-54

• Practice bombs, ammunition tools, spare/repair parts, software, technical documentation, training aids, and logistics support

I would like to add that Canada already has an approved JDAM sale from last year. This also isn't the package I spoke about on Monday. That is a completely separate order that will include LRASM. We should see that in the new year. Of course, this is obviously nothing to scoff at.

This caught me by surprise. I have not heard of any such amounts in the pipeline. Of course, there’s always discussion surrounding rebuilding the munitions stockpile. That is fairly common. How this slipped past me, I don't know.

If you want to talk about what rebuilding stockpiles looks like? This is it. Every munitions order should have a similar scale to this. This is the scale that I am talking about when I say we need to have adequate stockpiles to get us through a prolonged period of conflict.

While HIMARS will get at least one more munitions order before it enters service, the initial amounts being acquired still left me a bit disappointed. It did not convey the true demands we would see in a potential peer conflict. This goes in the opposite direction. It not only aims to rebuild our existing stocks of General Purpose bombs and JDAMs, but also acquires a brand new capability in both Small Diameter Bomb and StormBreaker.

The desire for SDB has been known for a while. It was almost a given after the F-35 was selected as Canada’s future fighter that we would follow most others in acquiring both versions of SDB.

Compared to the JDAM family, the GBU-39 Small Diameter Bomb (SDB) represents a shift in philosophy toward magazine depth and precision over raw explosive power. The primary advantage here is volume. Using the BRU-61 carriage system, an aircraft can carry four SDBs in the space of a single 2,000-pound bomb. This drastically increases the number of targets one can engage, while saving larger munitions like the Mark 84 for more suitable targets.

It relies on a diamond-back wing structure for significant standoff glide range out past 100 kilometers, allowing platforms to strike fixed targets while keeping a safer distance from air defense bubbles than a standard JDAM drop usually permits.

The GBU-53/B StormBreaker (formerly SDB II) takes that efficient form factor and solves the biggest limitation of the original SDB and standard JDAMs: hitting moving targets in the worst conditions. StormBreaker integrates a tri-mode seeker head featuring millimeter-wave radar, infrared, and semi-active laser guidance.

This allows it to track and strike mobile targets through smoke, fog, or dust storms where traditional laser or optical guidance would lose lock. It converts the bomb from a coordinate-seeking munition into a network-enabled hunter that can autonomously classify targets in a contested environment.

This package overall is very nice. Should it be the be-all and end-all? No. However, it’s a fantastic start, and sets us on the right path to building a credible munition supply that might actually be able to hit the 30 days of peer conflict mark.

And as always, this is only a potential sale. It isn't a firm order. I really hope it does turn into one, however, right now it is just a framework for what we could acquire. I hope that we can see a lot more of these in the coming months. Rebuilding our munition supply, which at the current stage is not prepared to handle the four weeks of peer conflict that's desired, should be a top priority.

I plan to talk about the Munition Supply Program VERY soon. This will certainly be an example of the direction we need to be looking at when discussing what and how much to order.