According to the Politico publication, Ukraine will receive its first batch of Ground-Launched Small Diameter Bombs, a brand new long-range weapon made by Boeing that even the U.S. doesn’t have in its inventory.
The new bomb, which can travel about 90 miles, is expected to be “a significant capability for Ukraine,” said one of the U.S. officials.
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“It gives them a deeper strike capability they haven’t had, it complements their long-range fire arsenal,” the U.S. official said.
The weapon, co-developed by Boeing and Saab, is made up of a precision-guided 250-pound bomb strapped to a rocket motor and fired from various ground launchers. The U.S. military has a similar version of the bomb that is air-launched, but a ground-launched version does not yet exist in U.S. inventory.
The extended range will put a new capability in Ukraine’s arsenal at a time when as Ukraine looks for new ways to hit russian forces, as mentioned in the publication.
The bomb will join other long-range weapons given to Ukraine over the past year that have allowed its troops to hit russian logistics and naval sites in Crimea.
According to the Politico, Ukraine will be the first country to use the bomb in combat, making it a critical test case for other countries that have been snapping up long-range munitions since russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
The Pentagon announced last February that the Biden administration was providing the new bomb to Ukraine. But before sending the new version, the U.S. military needed to test the weapon — and that took many months.
The Army oversaw the testing of the new precision-guided bomb before providing its stamp of approval to send the weapon to Ukraine, according to an industry source.
The air-launched version was created in 2019, but despite successful tests, Boeing and Saab did not make a sale until the U.S. decided to donate it to Ukraine as part of an aid package.
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