Bahrain purchases US air force bombs

The Royal Bahraini Air Force has received approval from the State Department in Washington to buy an estimated $45m worth of general purpose and penetrator warhead bomb bodies for its fleet of 20 F-16 Fighting Falcon combat aircraft. The deal, announced on 18 May, covers 3,200 bomb bodies, along with spare parts, training and related services. The munitions will be provided by the United States government from its existing stocks. It is the second recent significant purchase of armaments from the US, following a $911m deal for attack helicopters.