New game changer? – Quietly and secretly: hover bombs sail forward

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Overshadowed by the grueling ‘Leopard 2 tank or not’ debate, the US government is behind the scenes busy bringing the next ‘game changer’ to Ukraine: the so-called ‘GLSDBs’. Behind the unpronounceable string of letters lurks a weapon system that could cause even more headaches for the Russians than the HIMARS missile launchers.

What are GLSDBs?
The abbreviation “SDB” means “small diameter bomb”, it refers to smaller bombs with a low profile and warheads of less than 100 kilograms, which, however, can “sail” for kilometers due to their low weight. To do this, they unfold two wings during flight and find their destination via GPS or laser. Originally they were designed for aircraft, capable of dropping the bomb from a great height and at a great distance from the enemy and immediately turning around as the gun glides independently for dozens of kilometers to the target. There is now also a variant that can be fired from the ground, “ground-launched” – the “GL” at the beginning of the abbreviation. This variant is now deployed in Ukraine – due to a lack of aircraft.

Why are these weapons suddenly relevant?
Because they have not yet been used in Ukraine, but could appear in the following Pentagon aid packages: In addition to “Stryker” wheeled armored vehicles (similar to the Austrian “Pandur”), according to “Politico” GLSDBs worth several millions of dollars to deliver for the first time. However, they are still missing from the official list of the US Department of Defense and the White House would also have to agree to a delivery.

How does the artillery variant of the weapon work?
Relatively simple: instead of an airplane, a rocket engine raises the glide bomb to its launch height of several thousand meters above the ground. Once there, the burned-out engine separates from the warhead, which then slides towards the enemy on its own. And it hardly makes a sound: “Due to the low glide speed, you hardly hear a whistle like with regular artillery shells. There is no warning, something suddenly explodes next to you,” former U.S. Air Force Colonel Jeff Fischer told Krone. “It’s a terrifying weapon” – also because of its accuracy of about one to five meters.

Why could she be the next game changer in the war in Ukraine?
Because of the huge range: it is publicly listed as 150 kilometers, but in favorable wind conditions it should be higher. That’s about double the dreaded HIMARS missiles currently being used with great success in Ukraine. From Kherson, GLSDBs could be fired at about a third of Crimea, to the east all of Russian-occupied Donbass would be within range. Any weapons or fuel depot, troop quarters or command post in this area would be compromised if reconnaissance were conducted.

Keyword “reconnaissance”: Are there enough targets for the weapon?
This is actually a curiosity about precision munitions: it hits so fast that its own reconnaissance cannot identify new targets. “You could get to the point where the limiting factor of the GLSDBs is the number of known targets,” Fischer explains.

What are the disadvantages of the weapon?
The warhead is sometimes smaller than in HIMARS missiles, and the slower velocity also means less kinetic energy is “given away”. This is offset by a newer, more powerful bomb design that aims to achieve similar performance with less weight. In addition, no moving targets can be fought with the purely GPS-controlled variant. The laser variant can do this, but requires a person, drone or aircraft to mark the target up to the point of impact.

Who makes them?
The ground-launched GL variant is partly a European invention, a collaboration between American company Boeing and Swedish arms manufacturer SAAB.

What effect do experts expect on the battlefield?
“Life will be very uncomfortable for the Russian armed forces, thanks to GLSDBs there will be less safe havens,” said former US Army General Ben Hodges. In particular, the logistical support of the Russian troops at the front, including ammunition supplies, but also repair teams, is at risk. Armed Forces Colonel Markus Reisner adds, “The effect of this weapon could exceed that of any Leopard 2 tanks.”

Source: Krone

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