Saudi Arabia Cleared to Buy 10,004 JDAM Guidance Kits and 60 Abrams Engines in $5.75 Billion Package

The US State Department on September 4, 2026 approved two possible Foreign Military Sales to Saudi Arabia with a combined estimated value of $5.75 billion, and the Defense Security Cooperation Agency notified Congress the same day. The larger package covers Joint Direct Attack Munition – Extended Range guidance kits and bomb bodies at an estimated $5.0 billion. The second covers 60 AGT-1500 gas-turbine engines for the kingdom's M1 Abrams tanks at an estimated $750 million.

The munitions package, titled "Joint Direct Attack Munitions – Extend Range" in the DSCA notification, comprises 5,004 KMU-572 guidance kits paired with 5,004 BLU-111 500-pound general purpose bombs, and 5,000 KMU-556 guidance kits paired with 5,000 BLU-117 2,000-pound general purpose bombs, for 10,004 kits in all. The KMU-572 is the tail kit fitted to the 500-pound body, the configuration sold as the GBU-38. The KMU-556 is the tail kit for the 2,000-pound body, which becomes the GBU-31. The Boeing Company is the principal contractor. The notification also lists non-major defense equipment:

• FMU-139 fuze systems;
• DSU-38 and DSU-40 target detectors;
• containers and support equipment;
• spare parts, consumables and accessories;
• repair and return support.

The engine package is smaller and simpler: 60 AGT-1500 engines at an estimated $750 million, with Honeywell as principal contractor. The AGT-1500 is the gas turbine that powers the M1 Abrams.

Two other cases cleared in the same tranche. Oman was approved for $188 million of F-16 fleet sustainment services, with no principal contractor designated, and Iraq for $150 million of Bell 412EPX helicopters, with Bell-Textron as principal contractor.

These are congressional notifications of possible sales, not signed contracts. Quantities and values are estimates at this stage and may change during negotiation.

The scale of the munitions package stands out against the size of the fleet that would receive it. GlobalMilitary.net's 2026 inventory for the Royal Saudi Air Force records 363 fast jets across four types:

• 127 F-15C/S and 84 F-15SA, the F-15 fleet, alongside 21 two-seat F-15D;
• 81 Tornado IDS;
• 71 Eurofighter Typhoon.

As arithmetic, 10,004 guidance kits work out to roughly 28 per aircraft across that fleet. The engine package reads the same way on the ground: GlobalMilitary.net's 2026 army inventory lists 575 M1 Abrams in active service with the Royal Saudi Land Forces, so 60 AGT-1500s amount to roughly one engine for every ten Saudi tanks. That fleet is the third-largest Abrams force in the site's data, which counts 6,158 active M1s across eleven countries: the United States with 2,640 active and a further 2,000 in storage, Egypt with 1,300, Saudi Arabia with 575, Iraq with 487, Kuwait with 436, Poland with 262, Morocco with 222, Taiwan with 80, Ukraine with 60, Bahrain with 50 and Australia with 46. Romania has 54 on order and none yet in service.

Saudi Arabia's military expenditure stood at $88.03 billion in 2024, 7.1 percent of GDP, supporting 257,000 active troops. On GlobalMilitary.net's ranking of countries by military power, the kingdom scores 48.58 on the ATLAS index, against 40.09 for Iran. Both notifications were issued while the 2026 Iran conflict is under way.

Congress now has the opportunity to review both notifications. If the sales proceed, the final quantities and values will be set in negotiation.