18:34, 02/01/2024

The Ukrainian military should receive American GLSDB bombs any day now. What kind of “beast” is this and how it can influence the situation at the front, UNIAN found out.

Few modern weapons inspire as much admiration as the GLSDB (Ground Launched Small Diameter Bomb). This bomb seems to have all the best features: it is accurate, cheap and easy to use. And, most importantly, GLSDB will soon be in the hands of the Ukrainian military.

The GLSDB bomb is already in Ukraine

On the last day of January, at a briefing in Kyiv, US Deputy Secretary of State Victoria Nuland officially confirmed that the GLSDB bomb-missile had already been delivered to Ukraine, and they were already heading to the front. 

“This includes new investment and new weapons systems, such as light, small-diameter bombs that are already on their way to the front, as well as support for rebuilding Ukraine’s defense industrial base and our own to ensure we can continue to fight those who wants to steal freedom,” Nuland said.

The GLSDB bomb is one of the latest developments of the American military-industrial complex; no one has previously used it in combat. Taking into account Nuland’s statement, it is almost certain that Ukraine will be the first to do this.

What is GLSDB – bomb or rocket

GLSDB was created within the depths of the American Boeing and the Swedish Saab Group. There is nothing surprising in this: international cooperation in such complex projects has long become the norm, and Sweden is traditionally a country with one of the most developed military-industrial complexes.

Simulation of GLSDB operation

However, it is the Americans who play first fiddle here. The GLSDB is based on their development – a miniature aerial bomb GBU-39 Small Diameter Bomb (SDB, translated: small diameter bomb), which began to be produced back in 2005. 

The GBU-39 bomb and its upgraded version GBU-53 have long been used by Western aviation, and the GLSDB is nothing more than a GBU-39 mounted on a chassis. Namely, the M270 and M142 HIMARS multiple launch rocket systems. Accordingly, they are launched in the same way as other missiles for Highmars, that is, from the surface. 

Theoretically, GLSDB can launch from its own launcher: it looks like a regular transport container. This makes it more difficult for the enemy to detect it.

How does GLSDB work? After the booster lifts the bomb to a high altitude, it detaches, the wings open, and this allows the bomb to glide to its target. The destruction range is 150 kilometers : this is about the same as the ATACMS guided missiles (Ukraine received these missiles with a range of 165 km), and twice as much as the GMLRS shells (85 km), which are actively supplied to Ukraine.

“GLSDB is one of the longest-range weapons launched from ground-based launchers,” Sergei Zgurets, head of the Defense Express information and consulting company, told UNIAN. “In fact, it has a range of 150 kilometers, like several dozen ATACMS that were transferred to us. Compared to GMLRS shells, the new ammunition has greater accuracy, greater power, and is also less exposed to enemy electronic warfare equipment . GLSDB can significantly improve the capabilities of the Ukrainian army to strike deep into enemy defenses. Among its targets may be primarily logistics routes and command posts “, the location of air defense missile launchers, operational-tactical complexes, and artillery. The bomb’s accuracy is up to 90 centimeters , so we can expect pinpoint hits on such targets.” 

While conventional multiple launch rocket systems fly along a ballistic trajectory, the GLSDB missile can be launched to altitude and glide along a chosen trajectory. The bomb allows 360-degree coverage for high and low angles of attack, flying around terrain to hit targets in the mountains, or returning to a target behind an undocked launch vehicle at a distance of up to 70 km! All this makes it a truly universal weapon.

Comparison of GMLRS, ATACMS and GLSDB

Characteristics of GLSDB:

• Weight: 270 kg;
• Length: 3.91 m (the length of the bomb itself is 1.80 m);
• Diameter: 240 mm;
• Wingspan: 1.61 m;
• Warhead type: multi-purpose fragmentation;
• Warhead weight: 93 kg;
• Range: up to 150 km;
• Guidance system: inertial and GPS;
• Accuracy: 1 m.

Bomb boosters are nothing more than the engines of old M26 cluster rockets, which the Americans decided to scrap. Therefore, GLSDB is a kind of “Frankenstein’s monster”, assembled from two different systems, between which, it would seem, there is nothing in common. Except for one thing: the Americans have a huge amount of both M26 shells and GBU-39 bombs. 

Benefits of GLSDB

When people talk about American weapons, they usually first of all remember their exorbitant price, which, to put it mildly, is not entirely fair. Few countries in the world have done more to reduce the cost of weapons than the United States. The best illustration here is Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) – regular old air bombs that are fitted with GPS-guided aerodynamic kits, turning them into advanced precision weapons. Making such a bomb from scratch would cost many times more, if not ten times more. 

The GLSDB bomb is roughly from the same opera. At first glance, there is nothing revolutionary in it, but everything changes when you look at the numbers. Each SDB bomb (the main and most expensive part of the GLSDB) costs only 40 thousand dollars! For comparison, the price of an ATACMS missile exceeds $1 million, and the cost of one Storm Shadow cruise missile (the same one that sank the Novocherkassk large landing ship) is 2.5 million. The difference is simply colossal. 

After all, the huge advantage of GLSDBs is that, as noted above, they can be run from HIMARS and M270. Both launchers are in service with Ukraine. Our military is familiar with them. And hundreds more such systems are gathering dust in Western warehouses, waiting to be delivered to Ukraine.

Disadvantages of GLSDB

During the war, the Russians realized that anything could come at them, and they are making great efforts to prevent this from happening. In particular, layered air defense is being built, and electronic warfare systems are actively operating. 

This gives its results. According to rumors, neither GMLRS nor ATACMS are showing the same effectiveness that they previously demonstrated. 

Last year, analyst for the German publication Bild Julian Ripke tried to explain why Ukrainian troops received ATACMS only with an inertial system, without GPS guidance. “There is, of course, one reason: successful Russian attacks to jam most GPS-guided weapons in the area,” the analyst explained. If this is true, then interference will certainly affect the operation of the GLSDB, although this weapon is positioned as having protection from “jammers”.

However, there is another issue worth noting. Of course, the low price of the GLSDB bomb is good, but it does not at all guarantee that Ukraine will receive bombs in large quantities. 

“There have been discussions about the supply of GLSDB for a long time,” retired Lieutenant General, Candidate of Military Sciences Igor Romanenko explains to UNIAN. “Implementation, in my opinion, comes down to reducing the cost of assistance. They use old shells for MLRS and HIMARS, on which they install a GBU bomb.” 39. This is very good, but the range is short – 150 km. GLSDB is certainly needed, because it has highly accurate characteristics. You can shoot 75 kilometers against the direction of the shot, and the bomb will turn around and hit behind you. However, the main question concerns the quantity. Now at The West adjusts supplies so that we don’t lose, but they don’t provide assistance so that we win.” 

Sergei Zgurets shares a similar point of view. 

“Everything will depend on the volume of such projectiles,” says the head of Defense Express. “So far, the previous contract provided for the transfer of 700 such products to Ukraine during 2024. This was in the contract between Boeing and the Pentagon. I hope that these figures will be higher “, and the greater the number, the greater the influence on the enemy, of course. If there were a transfer of at least two to three thousand a year, then that would be good.” 

In any case, Ukraine now has the latest weapons in its hands, which are superior in quality to their analogues. No Russian electronic warfare or other means can completely neutralize the effect of a Ground Launched Small Diameter Bomb. In the end, the Russians will spend even more energy on intercepting air targets, and this will affect both the morale of the occupying forces and the Russian economy.

Ilya Medvedenko

(C)UNIAN 2024