The U.S. is poised to resume shipments to Ukraine of long-range bombs known as Ground-Launched Small Diameter Bombs (GLSDB), after they were upgraded to better counter Russian jamming, Reuters reported, referring to two people familiar with the weapon.
“The glide-bombs were purchased under the U.S. administration of former President Joe Biden using the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative. The U.S. has bought nearly $33.2 billion worth of new arms and military equipment for Kyiv directly from U.S. and allied defense contractors,” Reuters said.
The GLSDB has a range of 161 km. Its components, the GBU-39 Small Diameter Bomb (SDB) and the M26 rocket motor, are relatively inexpensive and readily available in the U.S. military inventory.
“The munitions will arrive amid reports that Ukraine’s supply of similarly-ranged Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS) has been depleted,” Reuters notes.