WASHINGTON — The US State Department has approved five different separate weapon sales, worth an estimated total of $3.5 billion, the Defense Security Cooperation Agency announced on its website Tuesday.

The vast majority of the money comes from the potential sale of 17 V-22B Block C Osprey aircraft to Japan. The island nation officially selected the Osprey in December as its choice to fill a military tilt-rotor requirement laid out in its most recent National Defense Program Guidelines.

The sale would also include 40 Rolls-Royce engines, along with radars, sensors and night vision goggles — essentially the complete package to operate the Osprey.

The Osprey has been is highly controversial in Japan due to its reputation as an unsafe aircraft, a reputation earned after several public accidents in the early days of the technology that proponents say are no longer an issue. The announcement comes just days after the US and Japan completed a new defense agreement.

As with all sales announced by DSCA, the agreements are not final. They still require without congressional approval; assuming that occurs, the contracts will need to be negotiated by the interested parties.

A display case holding a portrait of Corporal Edwin Glasberg, some of his combat medals and a note from his grandchild about his time in the service hangs in his home in Naples, Florida on August 5, 2016. Glasberg received two Purple Heart medals for wounds sustained in Pacific battles, and a Presidential Unit Citation medal, awarded for "extraordinary heroism in action against an armed enemy."

Other sales cleared by DSCA included a UH-60M VIP Blackh Hawk helicopter and parts, equipment and support to Jordan for an estimated $21 million, 30 AIM-9X-2 Sidewinder Missiles to Indonesia for $47 million, and 10 AIM-120C7 Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missiles (AMRAAM) to Malaysia for $21 million.

The DSCA also approved the possible sale of an estimated $395 million of ammunition to Iraq. The bulk of the sale would be 5,000 81mm High Explosive Mortar Ammunition, 684,000 M203 40mm High Explosive Ammunition, 532,000 MK19 40mm High Explosive Dual Purpose Ammunition, and 40,000 155mm High Explosives, according to DSCA. It would also include small arms ammunition to help the Iraq government fight against insurgents.

About Aaron Mehta

Aaron Mehta was deputy editor and senior Pentagon correspondent for Defense News, covering policy, strategy and acquisition at the highest levels of the Defense Department and its international partners.

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