Laura Cooper (Photo - US Department of Defense)

American Ground-Launched Small Diameter Bombs (GLSDB) will be available to the Armed Forces of Ukraine no earlier than fall, Laura K. Cooper, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense, said at a hearing in Congress.

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The Pentagon official was responding to a question about whether the United States could provide Ukraine with long-range ATACMS munitions "right now" instead of forcing the Armed Forces to wait for the supply of the systems urgently needed for the offensive.

In response, Cooper stated that the Department of Defense constantly strives to meet any of Ukraine's armament needs and uses "any opportunity" to do so.

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At the same time, she said, GLSDB, that is, high-precision ground-launched bombs, really will not be able to be delivered to Ukraine before the fall, although "colleagues in supply" are working to make this happen as soon as possible.

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REFERENCE. The GLSDB combines the GBU-39 small-diameter cruise bomb with an M26 rocket launcher that can be launched from HIMARS/MLRS. Aiming at the target is by GPS and inertial. After launch, the bomb separates from the missile in flight, releases mini-wings and, gliding, flies toward the target.

On February 3, 2023, the Pentagon officially confirmed for the first time that it intends to transfer GLSDB bombs with a homing system to Ukraine.

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