US expected to send Ukraine longer-range smart bombs
The weapon is a precision-guided bomb with a range of 150km.
The next batch of US military aid for Ukraine that could be announced as soon as Friday is expected to include longer-range smart bombs for the first time, people familiar with the matter said.
The new smart weapon is a Ground-Launched Small Diametre Bomb, or GLSDB, a precision-guided 113kg bomb that is strapped to a rocket. It has a range of 150km, which is farther than any bomb the US has so far provided to Ukraine.
The expected delivery of longer-range weapons comes as the US and European allies have moved to provide modern battle tanks and other advanced weaponry to Ukraine ahead of an expected Russian offensive. The US has pledged to provide Ukraine with more than $US27bn ($37.8bn) in military aid.
The GLSDB can be fired from rocket-launchers such as the Himars system already supplied by the US to Ukraine. The bomb is equipped with wings, allowing it to glide to its target and a rocket motor to give it extra range.
This allows it to be targeted accurately as though it was launched from an aircraft, without putting a pilot at risk and at lower cost. The bomb also has advanced tracking systems to make it more accurate, with a claimed precision to within the width of a car tyre.
Reuters earlier reported about the expected delivery.
The GLSDB would be supplied through the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, which funds the acquiring or building of new weapons and systems rather than pulling from US stockpiles. USAI-funded equipment usually takes longer to reach Ukraine than weapons and equipment in existing US stockpiles.
The ground-launched weapon was developed over the past few years by Boeing in partnership with Sweden’s Saab AB, and is produced at the US company’s facility in St Charles, Missouri.
The weapon hasn’t previously attracted any orders, and while Boeing confirmed it had available stocks, it declined to comment on any potential transfer to Ukraine.
Ukrainian officials have asked for supplies of more-advanced armaments from the West to counter long-range Russian missile attacks that have killed civilians and damaged infrastructure across the country.
The US has been hesitant to equip Ukraine with longer-range systems over concerns that Kyiv could use the weapons to strike targets inside of Russia itself, increasing the risk of the war escalating into a direct clash between Moscow and the West.
At the weekend, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky renewed a request for the US Army Tactical Missile System, or ATACMS, which has a range of 480km. The Biden administration has refrained from supplying the ATACMS.
The Wall Street Journal
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