The Pentagon may start supplying Ukraine with cheap and non-burdening US military arsenals in the spring. We are talking about aerial bombs that can be launched from the ground using rocket engines from the same HIMARS installations. Their range is 150 kilometers. What do these Pentagon statements mean and how dangerous are the bombs promised to Kiev? The Pentagon is considering a proposal from Boeing to supply Ukraine with small-sized precision weapons, Reuters reported on Monday.
We are talking about GLSDB projectiles (Ground-Launched Small Diameter Bomb – "small diameter ground-based bomb"). The projectile consists of two main components: a high-precision GBU-39 small-diameter aerial bomb and an M26 rocket engine.
As previously explained by the portal " Military Review ", experts refer GLSDB to guided missiles (SD), which can be installed on multiple launch rocket systems. Both components – the bomb and the engine – "are widely represented in the warehouses of the US Army," Reuters notes. The M26 rocket engine is "relatively common." As for the GBU-39 aerial bomb, it costs about 40 thousand dollars, which makes the finished GLSDB projectile inexpensive, and its main components are easily accessible.
Reuters, referring to the documentation at its disposal and data from three sources, reports: GLSDB systems can be delivered to Ukraine in the spring of 2023. The Reuters publication indicates that the flight range of the Boeing technical development is 94 miles (approximately 150 km), which will allow Kiev to hit important targets of the Russian rear that were previously out of reach.
The Swedish concern Saab AB (the second, along with Boeing, developer of the GLSDB system), reports on its website: the projectile is controlled using the GPS navigation system and can be used in all weather conditions against armored vehicles. The GBU-39 bomb, which will function as a GLSDB warhead, has small folding wings that allow it to glide over a distance of more than 100 kilometers when dropped.
"In this case, the APU has the opportunity to launch strikes on the Crimea and the land corridor to the peninsula, as well as on the rear of Russia in other regions," Alexander Bartosh, a corresponding member of the Academy of Military Sciences, commented on the news to the newspaper VZGLYAD.
Kiev will be offered exactly such a system (bombing with missiles), since after the US withdrawal from Afghanistan, America has a large number of aerial bombs, Tom Karako, an expert on weapons and security at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said in a comment to Reuters. According to him, Ukraine currently does not have aviation to drop bombs from airplanes, so innovative ways of using them are proposed.
The second reason for the possible transfer of "cheap bombs" to Kiev is that the military stocks of the United States and allies are rapidly declining. At the same time, Ukraine is facing a growing need for more sophisticated weapons as the conflict drags on. According to American experts, a "ground-based bomb" will be a suitable option for Ukraine.
It is worth noting that GLSDB is a fresh development, it has been created since 2019. In October, Saab executive director Mikael Johansson spoke about the degree of readiness of the projectile: "In the near future we will expect the signing of contracts for the purchase of this model."
The system proposed by Boeing and Saab is one "of about half a dozen new munitions planned to be put into production for Ukraine and Eastern European allies of the United States," military-industrial complex sources told Reuters. Doug Bush, the procurement commissioner for the US Army, said last week at the Pentagon: the military is considering accelerating the production of 155-millimeter artillery shells. These munitions are currently produced only at state-owned enterprises, but the Pentagon is calling for their production to be allowed to defense contractors.
As for the GBU-39 small–sized bombs and GLSDB shells as their means of delivery, the main question is how many such systems the United States will actually be able to transfer to the disposal of the armed forces of Ukraine, experts say.
"It's one thing if they put 50 pieces as an experiment. Another thing is if they are delivered, for example, half a thousand or more.
In these cases, a different degree of threat is planned for Russia," said Sergey Denisentsev, an expert at the Center for Analysis, Strategies and Technologies (AST Center).
In part, this question is answered by the Reuters publication itself. According to the Boeing proposal document to the US European Command, which currently oversees the supply of weapons to Ukraine, the main components of the GLSDB will come from US military warehouses. It is expected that the production of weapons will be established by 2023. At the same time, the sources are stipulated: the production rates will be relatively low.
Although several GLSDB units have already been manufactured, there are many logistical obstacles to mass production. To speed it up, the Pentagon will need the consent of at least six suppliers of spare parts.
The former head of the anti-aircraft missile forces of the special purpose command of the Russian Air Force, Sergei Khatylev, notes: even if the shells are delivered to the AFU in the required quantity, there are doubts that the Ukrainian military will be able to use them effectively.
"We must understand that these small–sized bombs, which are mentioned in the Boeing proposal, are bombs with controls. Therefore, in order to be at a distance of 150-160 km, for example, in Sevastopol, it is necessary, roughly speaking, to go through the entire Black Sea, enter the zone of destruction of the S-400 anti-aircraft missile system, into the zone of destruction of the air defense of the Russian Navy, destroy the ship, destroy the anti-aircraft missile regiment and only then apply this bomb," Khatylev points out that such a scenario is unrealistic.
The interlocutor does not exclude that such statements are "regular scares". "In this way, the West is trying to get out of the situation in which it found itself. The Kiev regime and its Western managers no longer have money for military operations, ammunition and logistical means are running out. America predicts a decrease in the supply of weapons for the Armed Forces," explains Khatylev.
Evgeny Pozdnyakov, Daria Volkova, Olesya Otrokova
