The US has pushed delivery of new long-range rocket-propelled bombs to Ukraine, adapted to strike at 160km range to 2024, according to the Pentagon and sources, Reuters has reported.
A Pentagon spokesman said the US anticipated providing this key capability in the early 2024 timeframe after successful testing.
Meanwhile, people familiar with the matter revealed that the weapons delivery to the US by Boeing, the prime contractor for the Ground Launched Small Diameter Bomb (GLSDB), would take place in late December – followed by several months of testing before shipment to Ukraine.
Because the contract to begin production of GLSDB was signed in March and the production required government furnished materials, the delivery was forced towards the end of 2023.
GLSDB will allow Ukraine’s military to hit targets at twice the distance reachable by the rockets it now fires from the US-supplied High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) and force Russia to move its supplies even farther from the front lines.
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