"FROM THE ANALYST"

GLSDB PREPARES FOR SHIPMENT

The long awaited HIMARS & MLRS launched Ground Launched Small Diameter Bomb is being readied for shipment to Ukraine, according to co-developer SAAB’s CEO.
The project is an amalgamation of older rocket motors and small bombs that would otherwise have been scrapped.
The rocket motors are refuelled with solid propellant and safety checked, the bombs are checked for explosive and electro-mechanical viability. The two are then married to a glide kit with wings and guidance system, tubed up then shipped for firing in a standard compatible launcher.
The cost savings using existing parts and kit cut the cost and time of development dramatically and the ongoing lessons of dealing with advance Russian EW have apparently been incorporated, following the hard lessons learned with the JDAM and its loss of accuracy. That loss was a combination of Russian signal spoofing - where they create a fake stronger GPS signal to draw it away and jamming to stop re-acquiring the real signal.
The bomb itself is the GBU-39/B weighing 110Kg.
The range of the system is around 150km (93.21 miles) - which extends the capability of the launcher vehicles dramatically.
The glide bombs can potentially be shot down, but it’s unlikely Russia has anything like the coverage necessary to defend from them, certainly no more than Ukraine has against the FAB-500 aerial glide bombs the Russians are using in large numbers.
This weapon, which can be produced in large numbers from mostly existing kit, has the potential to make the life of Russian logisticians and artillerymen a complete nightmare, as if it is t already.