Speaking of Rybar, it claims (without providing proof or saying how they know) that "at least one" Ukrainian M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems,
or HIMARS crew "arrived in Bogatyr, which received" the
Ground Launched Small Diameter Bomb (GLSDB).
That claim about the weapons being deployed in that Donetsk Oblast city, or anywhere else in Ukraine, could not be independently verified. As it sits at this time, we have seen no indications GLSDB has arrived in Ukraine, but details regarding its acquisition and eventual deployment have been very limited.
"As with any [U.S. Security Assistance Initiative] announcement, it will take several weeks to months to procure, depending on the contracting, production, and delivery timelines for each piece of equipment," Marine Lt. Col. Garron Garn, a Pentagon spokesman, told
The War Zone Tuesday in response to whether any GLSDBs have been delivered to Ukraine. "Additionally, we will leave it to the Ukrainians to announce the use of the security [aid] provided in order to maintain an advantage on the battlefield."
The Ukrainians have not announced the arrival, let alone the deployment of those weapons, which were
officially promised to Kyiv on Feb. 3.
The weapon was developed by Boeing
in partnership with Saab of Sweden as a combination of two existing systems. Each GLSDB round is made up of the air-launched 250-pound GBU-39/B SDB, while the rocket motor is from the 227mm-caliber M26 artillery rocket which are fired by the HIMARS as well as the M270 MLRS. You can read more about it in our reporting
here. With a range of around 94 miles, or 150 kilometers, the GLSDB can reach targets more than twice as far away as the munitions fired by the HIMARS and M270.
