US approves sale of APKWS to Jordan

Jordan originally bought the APKWS for its AC-235 gunships, but these appear to have been retired just four years after they were delivered. (Janes/Patrick Allen)

The US State Department's Bureau of Political Military Affairs announced on 2 November that a Jordanian request for up to 1,500 Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System II (APKWS II) rocket guidance kits worth an estimated USD100 million has been approved.

Jordan has the option of buying just the guidance kits, which could be either the WGU-59A/B or WGU-59B/B variants, or complete munitions that included warheads, rocket motors, and fuzes, according to the Bureau of Political Military Affairs notification.

The WGU-59B/B has previously been identified as the air-to-air variant of what was originally a semi-active laser guidance system for standard 70 mm air-to-ground rockets.

The bureau framed the Jordanian request as an air-defence procurement, saying, “The proposed sale will improve Jordan's capability to meet current and future threats by providing enhancement to its air-defence capability in support of the Middle East Air Defence pillar of the Regional Security Construct.”

“The acquisition of additional APKWS II guided rockets will increase Jordan's capacity to defend itself, allow for the reduction of sustained US support over time, and provide increased security for US military assets stationed in Jordan,” it added.

Jordan was the first non-US customer for the APKWS, with the US Navy announcing in November 2015 that it had delivered 110 kits for the two CN235 transport aircraft that were converted into gunships for the Royal Jordanian Air Force.

Known as AC-235s, these aircraft were put up for sale in 2018, although it is unclear what happened to them.

For more, please see: RTX announces first LIDS contract for Jordan and Qatar