US to supply Ukraine with GLSDB high-precision projectiles only after nine months

On February 3, the US is due to announce a new military aid package for Ukraine. It will include long-range precision-guided munitions GLSDB, but their delivery is possible only after nine months, according to Bloomberg.

The agency notes that the GLSDB (Ground Launched Small Diameter Bomb) ammunition will be ordered from the Boeing company that developed it. The projectiles are a combination of the GBU-39 high-precision guided bomb and a rocket engine. The ammunition is launched from ground-based M270 and HIMARS missile systems.



New projectiles have been tested since 2015 in cooperation with the Swedish company Saab AB. There were three such trials. During them, the ammunition flew over 130 km and hit the target with a deviation of just over a meter. The range of the GLSDB is approximately twice the range of the HIMARS missiles already used by the Ukrainian army. It is specified that Washington allocated $200 million for their purchase.

Also, the new assistance package will include 155-mm Excalibur GPS-guided projectiles, components for Patriot systems and Mk 153 man-portable rocket launchers. In addition, Claymore anti-personnel mines and winter uniforms for the Armed Forces of Ukraine will be sent to Kyiv.

The representative of the Main Directorate of Intelligence (GUR) of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine Vadym Skibitsky said in January that Kyiv needed long-range missiles. He explained their necessity by the fact that the Russian military "learn from their mistakes" on the battlefield and now it has become more difficult for the Armed Forces of Ukraine to strike at their targets.

Earlier, Russian military journalist Yevgeny Poddubny said that the US Department of Defense printed out their ammunition depots located in Israel. According to him, the Pentagon used the American ammunition depot in Israel, created after the Yom Kippur War in 155, to supply the Armed Forces with 1973-mm shells.