All about Glsdb, the Saab and Boeing bombs that the US will send to Ukraine
In the new aid package for Kiev, the United States would be ready to include Glsdb missiles, capable of hitting the target up to a distance of 150 km, well beyond the range of current ammunition supplied by the West
The United States is ready to send Glsdb bombs to Ukraine, capable of hitting the target up to a distance of 150 km, almost double the range of the Himars so far supplied to Kiev.
The "ground launched small diameter bombs" (Glsdb), developed by the Swedish manufacturer Saab in collaboration with Boeing are small diameter bombs launched from the ground. They can therefore hit a target up to 150 kilometers "within a one meter radius and at a 360 degree angle".
It would mean that every inch of Russian-occupied Ukraine, excluding most of the Crimea peninsula, would be within range of Ukrainian forces.
So Washington seems to have rejected Kiev's requests for the much more effective ATacMS systems, short-range tactical surface-to-surface missiles Srbm, which have a range of up to 300 kilometers, with an estimated cost of over one million dollars. "In addition to the increased range, the Atacms have a very powerful warhead that can contain 180 kilos of explosives or 950 "sub-munitions" dispersed over a large area" underlines Repubblica .
Meanwhile, the reaction from Moscow is not long in coming. Sending longer-range missiles would be "a direct way to fuel tensions and the level of escalation", Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov denounced, while assuring that they would not be decisive in changing the course of the war.
All the details.
THE NEW USA AID PACKAGE WITH LONG RANGE AMMUNITION
The US government is preparing a new military aid package for Ukraine worth $2 billion. Among other items it also includes rockets and long-range artillery shells. This was reported by government sources quoted by the American press .
The US has so far sent Ukraine about $27.2 billion in security assistance since the Russian invasion in February last year.
The new aid is expected to include 155mm precision artillery shells, components for Patriot air defense systems, an additional supply of Javelin shoulder-mounted anti-tank weapons and, for the first time, Glsdb bombs with a range of 150 kilometers .
WHAT ARE THE GLSDB BOMBS MANUFACTURED BY THE SWEDISH SAAB IN COLLABORATION WITH BOEING
Glsdb systems are a new generation weapon, a joint project of Saab and Boeing. Specifically, Glsdb combines two combat-proven systems: the GBU-39 Small Diameter Bomb and the M26 rocket motor.
The GBU-39 bomb — designed in the early 2000s with the aim of reducing "collateral damage" as Repubblica recalls — is a 113 kg precision-guided munition. It's also relatively inexpensive at around $40,000.
The GPS-guided GLSDB systems are usable by the pods of the Himars and MLRS rocket launchers, already supplied to Ukraine by the United States and the United Kingdom respectively.
FEATURES
Glsdb has a length of 4 meters, a diameter of 30 centimeters and weighs about 275 kilos, with a laser system to track the target. They are able to follow the reliefs of the land, which can be used in any weather condition and at any time of day. But what makes the difference for Ukrainian troops is the range.
These systems would in fact allow the Ukrainian armed forces to go well beyond the 80 km range of the American Himars rocket launchers currently available. In fact, they would force Moscow to remove ammunition and fuel depots from the front.
EXPERT COMMENT
Finally, one of the great advantages of the Glsdb is that the ammunition and rockets are already available in the US arsenal, Breaking Defense points out. The industry would just need to integrate munitions and rockets rather than going through the lengthy process of setting up a new production line.
Tom Karako, an arms and security expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), told the Telegraph that buying missiles like the GLSDB directly from industry, rather than taking it from Pentagon stockpiles, means "getting quantities at low cost". Karako said concerns about running out of US inventories are behind the current rush to produce. Current stocks "are decreasing compared to the levels we would like to keep close at hand" highlighted the CSIS expert.
What's more, Glsdb could be delivered to Ukraine as early as spring 2023, according to a Boeing document seen by Reuters .
But "the big question concerns the true effectiveness of the Glsdb" underlines Pietro Batacchi, director of Rid . "The bomb, in fact, was tested a few years ago by Boeing and Saab, but it never obtained a customer and therefore at the moment there is no operational use: its potential, therefore, remains to be demonstrated".
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/innovazione/tutto-su-glsdb-le-bombe-di-saab-e-boeing-che-gli-usa-invieranno-allucraina/ on Thu, 02 Feb 2023 13:05:06 +0000.