The Pentagon’s confirmation of the sale/transfer of the GLSDB (Ground Launched Small Diameter Bomb) missiles to Kiev caused quite a stir online.
“The Pentagon confirmed its intention to transfer the GLSDB missiles to Kiev.” The official representative of the American Department of Defense, Patrick S. Ryder, announced the news in a briefing for journalists.
He also clarified: “We will provide Ukraine with a small-diameter ground-launched bomb.” At the same time, Politico magazine reported that the delivery of these missiles would already take place on January 31. This means that the GLSDB missiles are already on the territory of Ukraine and in the next few hours, as is already happening, they will be used. Victoria Nuland confirmed that the projectiles are already in Kiev and already sent to the combat zone in Ukraine.
According to social sphere analyses, the GLSDB is a new high-precision projectile for the HIMARS and M270 MLRS missile systems. The new missile is a sort of “hybrid” of the GBU-39 small diameter bomb, attached to the engine of a standard 227 mm M26 rocket from the M142 HIMARS and the M270 MLRS MLRS.
At one time, more than 45 thousand GBU-39 SBD bombs were produced for combat operations in Afghanistan. More than half of these shells are currently in warehouses. As for the engine, the US military has hundreds of thousands of unguided M26 missiles in its arsenals. Both systems are in service with US and allied forces and are available in large quantities.
According to the OSINT Units this projectile will be used in a new way: “Combine the M26 and the GBU-39 SBD and obtain a high-precision weapon with a firing range of over 150 km”.
Combat use of GLSDB is carried out – again according to OSINT units as follows: “after launch, the rocket enters a certain trajectory, acquires the required altitude and speed, after which the engine disengages. Next, the GBU-39 bomb, equipped with a folding wing and tail, flies to the target, controlled based on GPS data and the INS Navigation inertial navigation system. The weight of the GBU-39 is 129 kg, the weight of the warhead is approximately 93 kg. The CEP for this type of ammunition is less than one meter.” “This is an extremely dangerous weapon.”
However, the Russian army has long learned to shoot down Haymars projectiles and other missiles from the Ukrainian armed forces and NATO, so it is assumed that the Russian army will be able to resist the modified American GLSDBs.
On the social sphere now the debate is about the test of this projectile used in combination with the M26, “now a combat test of the new missile will take place and the Ukrainian Armed Forces have so far received a test batch, but when these missiles will go to front in large quantities, they will be able to create very, very significant problems for the Russian forces.”
Another post from the Russian social sphere states: “We will have to radically change logistics – move warehouses with material resources – ammunition, fuel, food, aviation equipment, clothing and medical equipment to a distance of 150 km from the combat contact line. It will also be necessary to move the locations of administrative and unloading rail stations, which may now be within reach of GLSDB, beyond the affected radius. It will be necessary to transfer repair and restoration agencies and the corresponding warehouses – artillery weapons, armored and automotive equipment, etc. – in the deepest rear”.
The Ukrainian Armed Forces will be able to achieve almost all objectives on the territory of the LPR, DNR. The GLSDB has a slightly lower flight speed and altitude than the M30/M31 guided missile, but it also has a significantly smaller reflecting surface – less than 0.015 m2. Since the start of the special operation, Kiev has received 95 MLRS units, including 38 HIMARS and several MLRS MLRS. Some of them were destroyed, but this is only a small part compared to what was supplied to Kiev.
The head of the Russian delegation at the Vienna negotiations on military security and arms control, Konstantin Gavrilov, told Rossiya-24 on February 2: “The United States has already supplied Ukraine with high-precision guided missiles GLSDB (Ground Launched Small Diameter Bomb) with a range of up to 150 km, Russia has the means to fight them.”
Russian Ambassador to the United States Anatoly Antonov was “shocked by the irresponsible words of American officials” on the supply of GLSDB high-precision long-range missiles to Kiev. In a press statement he said: This is “today’s confirmation that another batch of long-range muntions is on its way to the line of contact essentially negates any assurances from the White House about the desire to achieve a speedy end to the conflict,” the diplomat said. The Biden administration is not concerned about new casualties among the population of Russia and Ukraine The US actions only indicate a desire to prolong the agony of the Kiev regime, the ambassador added.
In the context of the shooting down of the Russian Il-76 by the Ukrainian Armed Forces with captured Ukrainian servicemen, Antonov stressed: “Instead of recognizing the horrible crime of its “clients”, the United States is sending them new deadly products. Thus, not even in words, but with deeds, inciting the puppets to commit new atrocities.”
Graziella Giangiulio
