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Cailianshe News, August 14 (Editor: Xiaoxiang)The U.S. government will deliver more than $750 million worth of bombs to Saudi Arabia in the coming months, according to Saudi and U.S. officials, eliminating a major long-standing conflict between the two countries in the past few years.

It is reported that the batch of bombs to be "shipped" includes 3,000 GBU-39 small diameter bombs and 7,500 Paveway IV bombs.

The bombs have been shelved by the United States since the Biden administration stopped shipping offensive weapons to Saudi Arabia in 2021 due to Saudi Arabia's punitive war in Yemen.

According to public information, the GBU-39 Small Diameter Bomb is a 250-pound (110-kilogram) guided bomb that can be launched from a distance for precision strikes, including in urban environments. Because of its small size and light weight, each fighter can carry more of it and attack more targets in each flight. The total value of this batch of 3,000 GBU-39 Small Diameter Bombs is approximately US$290 million.

The Paveway IV bomb is a high-precision bomb guided by GPS or laser, with a glide distance of more than 30 kilometers (depending on the release altitude and trajectory), and has the ability to launch attacks outside the air defense strike area. The total value of these 7,500 Paveway IV bombs is about $468 million.

"These bombs are what a modern air force needs," a State Department official said.

Is the White House trying to win over Saudi Arabia?

Analysts said the shipment of supplies highlighted the White House's attempt to forge closer diplomatic ties with oil-rich Saudi Arabia at a sensitive time in the Middle East.Over the past few months, the Biden administration has been drafting a new defense treaty with Saudi Arabia and discussing plans to provide assistance to the kingdom to acquire civilian nuclear energy.

Currently, the United States needs Saudi Arabia to help it promoteGaza Warceasefire, and is trying to broker a diplomatic recognition agreement between Israel and Saudi Arabia, which has profound influence in the Islamic world.

U.S. officials said the weapons will enhance the Saudi Air Force's ability to conduct precision air strikes using U.S.-made jet fighters, and more U.S.-made jet fighters may be sold to Saudi Arabia in the coming years.

Shortly after taking office in 2021, US President Biden halted the sale of offensive weapons to Saudi Arabia (defensive weapons exports were not affected) on the grounds of the Yemeni civil war. In 2022, the two sides of the Yemen conflict agreed to a ceasefire through UN mediation, and the US government subsequently began to evaluate the relevant decision.

Saudi officials have been pressing the U.S. to resume arms sales since Biden halted them.Pentagon“The Saudis see this as addressing a strategic stain in their relationship with the United States,” said Dana Stroul, a former official who covered the Middle East.

According to media reports last weekend, the US State Department said on the 9th that the Biden administration has decided to lift the US ban on selling offensive weapons to Saudi Arabia, indicating a change in the US policy of pressuring Saudi Arabia to end the war in Yemen over the past three years.A senior State Department official later confirmed that the State Department would lift the ban on the transfer of air-to-ground weapons to Saudi Arabia.

“Saudi Arabia has fulfilled its part of the deal, and we are prepared to fulfill ours,” said a senior Biden administration official.

U.S. officials also said the munitions could begin to be delivered in a few months. However, beyond the two batches of bombs, administration officials and congressional aides said the United States has not announced any other weapons shipments.