The United States is sending a new batch of military aid worth $375 million to Ukraine, which includes a long-range weapon known as the Joint Standoff Weapon (JSOW). While the Biden administration highlighted the JSOW as a key part of this package, there’s more to the story than just providing Ukraine with new firepower. The Pentagon has a hidden reason for sending these weapons to Ukraine—offloading them will save the U.S. about $20 million per year in maintenance costs.

What Is the JSOW?

First introduced in 1999, the JSOW is an air-launched glide bomb that can be dropped from planes like fighter jets. There are several versions of this bomb, with each one designed for different uses. The earliest model, the AGM-154A, carries 145 small explosives called submunitions, which act like cluster bombs. These bombs break apart and spread smaller explosives over a wide area.

However, cluster bombs are controversial because they can pose a serious risk to civilians. Because of th...