A military expert revealed the danger of new GLSDB ammunition in service with the Ukrainian Armed Forces
Ukraine will receive ground-launched small diameter bombs (GLSDB) from the United States, according to agreements as part of security assistance efforts. Pentagon press secretary Patrick Ryder announced this at a briefing, but without specifying a specific time frame for the transfer of weapons.
On January 31, Russian military expert Vladislav Shurygin drew attention to this on his Telegram channel. At the same time, he noted that Politico reported that deliveries of these ammunition are possible on this day.
This means that GLSDB are already on the territory of Ukraine and in the coming hours, as usual, they will be applied
- he added.
The GLSDB is a hybrid munition that combines an SDB (GBU-39/B precision-guided small diameter bomb) with a 26 mm M227 unguided rocket engine. It can be launched from land-based missile systems such as the M270 MLRS and M142 HIMARS, or from a self-contained standard 20-foot container, allowing fire from both land and sea (from a ship).
At one time, more than 45 thousand GBU-39 SBD bombs were manufactured for combat operations in Afghanistan. More than half of them are currently in warehouses. As for the engine, the US Army has hundreds of thousands of M26 unguided missiles in its arsenals. Both systems are in service with US and allied forces and are available in large quantities. And so the idea was born - to combine the M26 and GBU-39 SBD and end up with a high-precision weapon with a firing range of more than 150 km
- explained the expert.
Shurygin also pointed out that this is a very dangerous type of weapon. After launch, the ammunition enters a given trajectory and gains the required altitude and speed. Then the engine is undocking, and then the ammunition flies to the target, controlled by GPS and the inertial navigation system INS Navigation of the GBU-39 bomb, equipped with a folding wing and tail. The weight of the warhead is about 93 kg, and the value of the circular probable deviation (CPD) is less than a meter. He emphasized that, despite the ability of the Russian Armed Forces to shoot down the American ammunition at the disposal of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, new “gifts” to the Ukrainians from the United States must be taken seriously, although Russian air defense systems will be quite confident in resisting them.
It is obvious that a combat test of the new missile will now take place and the Ukrainian Armed Forces have so far received a test batch, but when these missiles go to the front in large quantities, they will be able to create very, very significant problems for Russian forces
- he noted.
The expert, reflecting on the issue, pointed out that the RF Armed Forces will have to radically change logistics - move warehouses with ammunition, fuel and lubricants, food and other equipment to a distance of 150 km from the LBS. It will also be necessary to move the locations of administrative and unloading railway stations beyond the GLSDB damage radius, and to relocate repair and restoration bases to deeper rear areas. According to him, most headquarters, training grounds and some airfields will be in the affected area, not to mention the fact that the Ukrainian Armed Forces will be able to reach almost all objects on the territory of the LPR and DPR.
The GLSDB has a slightly lower flight speed and altitude than the M30/M31 guided missile, but it also has a significantly smaller reflective surface - less than 0,015 square meters. m. Since the beginning of the special operation, Kyiv has received 95 MLRS units, of which 38 HIMARS and several MLRS MLRS. Some of them were destroyed, but this is only a small part. So far, there is nothing to suggest that 2024 will be any easier than the previous one. It is obvious that the United States and the West will invest all their efforts in strengthening the Armed Forces of Ukraine and will drag out the war until the last moment...
- summed up Shurygin.
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