Despite the U.S. and Israeli governments’ growing rift over the Gaza war, the Biden administration continues to authorize major weapons transfers.

The Biden administration in recent days quietly authorized the transfer of billions of dollars in bombs and fighter jets to Israel despite Washington’s concerns about an anticipated military offensive in southern Gaza that could threaten the lives of hundreds of thousands of Palestinian civilians.

The new arms packages include more than 1,800 MK84 2,000-pound bombs and 500 MK82 500-pound bombs, according to Pentagon and State Department officials familiar with the matter. The 2,000 pound bombs have been linked to previous mass-casualty events throughout Israel’s military campaign in Gaza. These officials, like some others, spoke to The Washington Post on the condition of anonymity because recent authorizations have not been disclosed publicly.

The 2,000 pound bombs, capable of leveling city blocks and leaving craters in the earth 40 feet across and larger, are almost never used anymore by Western militaries in densely populated locations due to the risk of civilian casualties.

archive link to the article

  • mlg@lemmy.worldEnglish
    25·
    7 months ago

    This is more kt worth of explosives than what I have virtually dropped in over 2000 hours of war thunder mixed battles over 5 years

    spoiler
    • 1,800 (2,000 lbs) MK84s = 3,600,000 lbs of ordnance
    • 500 (500 lbs) MK82 = 250,000 lbs of ordnance

    = 3,850,000 lbs of ordnance being sent to Israel

    • My most common WT CAS load out: F-86-25 with 2x 1,000lbs AN-M65A1s = 2,000lbs total per flight

    • Total ground targets destroyed = 1683

    • Assuming worst efficiency of each 2,000 lbs load only destroying one target,

    1683 * 2,000 = 3,366,000 lbs of videogame ordnance dropped in 2000 hours of gameplay

    Yeah this is totally fine

    • livus@kbin.social
      10·
      7 months ago

      It’s apparently a lot more than a Western nation would drop on a built up area.