Flash! Textron Begins CBU-105 Weapon Deliveries To India

(Livefist) : U.S. firm Textron Defense Systems has begun deliveries of 512 CBU-105 sensor fuzed munitions to India. The company began deliveries of the weapon system to the U.S. Air Force in September -- it is a foreign military sale (FMS) to India and therefore needs to be routed through the applicable U.S. service -- and will complete deliveries by the end of the year. Deliveries to the Indian Air Force by the U.S. Air Force are likely to begin early 2013.

A 2010 government to government contract worth $257.73-million was cleared after India expressed interest in the weapon in 2008. Textron announced the contract win and began production for the Indian order in February 2011. The weapon is likely to be deployed from the IAF's Jaguar strike aircraft and Su-30MKI air dominance fighters.

As a result of treaties on cluster munitions that India and the US are not signatories to, India's interest in the CBU-105 has been perceived as controversial, though the Indian government has persistently committed to the use of such weapons only against military targets.