Washington eyes precision bomb sale to Singapore

WASHINGTON, Aug 25 (Reuters) The US Defense Department said Friday it was tentatively planning to sell Singapore up to 84 precision-guided bombs for its F-15 fighter fleet as part of a military package deal valued at up to 200 million dollars.

Singapore has requested up to 28 Guided Bomb Unit-10 and 56 GBU-12 precision-guided munitions along with 126,000 20mm practice round cartridges, crew training in the United States and related items, the department told Congress yesterday.

''Singapore needs these munitions to support its F-15 aircraft,'' the Pentagon's Defense Security Cooperation Agency said in a notice required by law for a potential arms sale.

It said the bombs would give Singapore, a staunch supporter of the US military presence in the Asia-Pacific region, ''a credible defense capability while avoiding the collateral damage associated with conventional gravity munitions.'' Gravity munitions are unguided bombs. The laser-guided GBU-10 and GBU-12 are produced by Lockheed Martin Corp and Raytheon Co Singapore would be able to ''develop mission-ready and experienced aircrew'' for Boeing Co F-15s through the latest phase of longstanding pilot training in the United States, the notice said.

The notice does not mean a deal has been concluded.

Congress retains the power to reject a proposed sale but rarely does so.

REUTERS AK BST0442