[Goose]

not sure if this is new news or been discussed here previously as the intention to supply this device was apparently announced about a year ago

The Pentagon has successfully tested a new long-range precision bomb for Ukraine that is expected to arrive on the battlefield as soon as Wednesday, according to a U.S. official and three other people with knowledge of the talks.

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, according to the four people, all of whom were granted anonymity to discuss matters ahead of an announcement.

The new bomb, which can travel about 90 miles, is expected to be “a significant capability for Ukraine,” said the U.S. official.

“It gives them a deeper strike capability they haven’t had, it complements their long-range fire arsenal,” the U.S. official said. “It’s just an extra arrow in the quiver that’s gonna allow them to do more.”

An Army spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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 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.

https://www.politico.com/news/2024/01/30...lid=964328

This is actually a bit of corporate welfare, but it is good for Ukraine to have a weapon of this class. Since they are the first users of this weapon, they will endure whatever teething problems it may have. It would be interesting to know if this weapon has a "jam resistant" GPS that is near the US state of the art. Since it is a "new" weapon, it very well may. If it does, that could become a very big deal for Ukraine. They can use this weapon to knock out the GPS jammers in a given area and then immediately hit the intended targets with other GPS guided weapons that are not jam resistant (like JDAMs). Definition of a force multiplier.

https://thecardboard.org/board/showthrea...#pid381001
As I said back then, the US isn't going to deliver a system that has not been tested by the US military. Indeed they didn't do so. The GLSDB went through an operational test. It still is not projected as a weapon the US will buy for it's own troops. After all, we do have an air force :-). My question still is how many are actually ready to ship. They have has almost a year to build them, but that isn't a lot of time these days. Inventory is probably still "small".

[Goose]

not sure if this is new news or been discussed here previously as the intention to supply this device was apparently announced about a year ago

The Pentagon has successfully tested a new long-range precision bomb for Ukraine that is expected to arrive on the battlefield as soon as Wednesday, according to a U.S. official and three other people with knowledge of the talks.

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, according to the four people, all of whom were granted anonymity to discuss matters ahead of an announcement.

The new bomb, which can travel about 90 miles, is expected to be “a significant capability for Ukraine,” said the U.S. official.

“It gives them a deeper strike capability they haven’t had, it complements their long-range fire arsenal,” the U.S. official said. “It’s just an extra arrow in the quiver that’s gonna allow them to do more.”

An Army spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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 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.

https://www.politico.com/news/2024/01/30...lid=964328

This is actually a bit of corporate welfare, but it is good for Ukraine to have a weapon of this class. Since they are the first users of this weapon, they will endure whatever teething problems it may have. It would be interesting to know if this weapon has a "jam resistant" GPS that is near the US state of the art. Since it is a "new" weapon, it very well may. If it does, that could become a very big deal for Ukraine. They can use this weapon to knock out the GPS jammers in a given area and then immediately hit the intended targets with other GPS guided weapons that are not jam resistant (like JDAMs). Definition of a force multiplier.

https://thecardboard.org/board/showthrea...#pid381001
As I said back then, the US isn't going to deliver a system that has not been tested by the US military. Indeed they didn't do so. The GLSDB went through an operational test. It still is not projected as a weapon the US will buy for it's own troops. After all, we do have an air force :-). My question still is how many are actually ready to ship. They have has almost a year to build them, but that isn't a lot of time these days. Inventory is probably still "small".