WASHINGTON: The United States (US) is considering a proposal to provide cheap, small precision bombs fitted onto commonly available rockets to Ukraine to target far behind lines of Russia as the West is making efforts to meet the demand for more arms.
Kyiv is pushing the US and allied countries to supply more sophisticated weapons as the Ukraine war continues.
Boeing’s proposed system, known as Ground-Launched Small Diameter Bomb (GLSDB), is one of the six plans for receiving new munitions into production for Kyiv and Washington’s Eastern European allies.
According to Reuters news agency citing a document, GLSDB could be delivered as early as spring 2023. The GLSDB combines the M26 rocket motor with the GBU-39 Small Diameter Bomb (SDB), which are common in American inventories.
US Army to Accelerate Production of 155-Millimeter Artillery Shells
The US Army’s chief weapons buyer, Doug Bush, told the media that the US Army was also considering to accelerate the production of 155-millimeter artillery shells. Currently, these artillery shells are only produced at state-owned facilities.
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Doug Bush said that the Russian invasion of Ukraine increased demand for US-manufactured ammunition and weapons, while American allies in Eastern Europe are making huge orders as they provide Ukraine.
A security and weapons expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, Tom Karako, said that it is about getting quantity at a cheap cost.
Karako said that the US exit from Afghanistan had made many air-dropped bombs available in the US inventories.
