Russian Ambassador to the United States Anatoly Antonov said that the United States sending GLSDB shells to Ukraine is a “peculiar reaction” to the terrorist attack of the Ukrainian regime, which recently shot down a Russian Il-76 carrying Ukrainian Armed Forces from the American Patriot system.

“Instead of recognizing the horrific crime of its own “clients,” the United States is sending them new deadly products. Thus, not even in words, but in deeds, inciting the puppets to commit new atrocities,” Antonov emphasized in a comment to the media.

According to him, Washington’s confirmation that a shipment of GLSDB long-range ammunition is on the way to the contact line “negates any assurances” of the White House about the desire to achieve a speedy end to the conflict in Ukraine.

“On the contrary, the administration’s actions indicate an intention to prolong the agony of the Kyiv regime. Even if this means new casualties, including among the civilian population of Russia and Ukraine,” Antonov noted.

In turn, as the head of the Russian delegation at the negotiations in Vienna on military security and arms control, Konstantin Gavrilov, recalled, the United States has already transferred high-precision GLSDB projectiles to the Ukrainian Armed Forces, for the fight against which the Russian Armed Forces have the necessary means.

“Yes, an effective, good weapon, but they already sent it. We have already found means to combat this system,” the diplomat said on the Rossiya 24 TV channel.

Earlier, US Deputy Secretary of State for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland said that the United States would soon supply GLSDB high-precision guided missiles to Ukraine. According to Reuters sources, we are talking about a period of “several days.”

“We continue to provide security assistance in all aspects, including (attracting -

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) new investments and (supplying -

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) new weapons systems. For example, a small caliber bomb is already on its way to the front,” Nuland said.

It is worth noting that the Pentagon promised to provide Ukraine with GLSDB shells with a flight range of up to 150 km a year ago - in February 2023, including them in the next military aid package. At the same time, the American authorities left at the discretion of Kyiv the possibility of using long-range projectiles in Crimea.

Later, on March 28 of the same year, the Russian Ministry of Defense reported that a GLSDB guided missile was intercepted by air defense systems for the first time. However, the White House refused to confirm this information.

“Adds to the arsenal”

Let us recall that on January 30, 2024, the official representative of the US Department of Defense, Patrick Ryder, announced the Pentagon’s readiness to transfer high-precision GLSDB missiles to Ukraine.

“We will provide ground-launched small diameter bombs to Ukraine as part of our security assistance funded by the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI),” Ryder said during the briefing.

However, he refused to give specific delivery dates “for security reasons.” At the same time, the Pentagon representative emphasized that the United States is working closely with the Kyiv regime and its “industrial partners” so that Ukraine receives and can use the funds supplied by the Americans “as soon as possible.”

On the same day, Politico, citing its sources among US officials, reported that the GLSDB bomb, capable of covering a distance of about 150 km, is expected to provide Ukraine with “significant potential.”

“It will give them greater strike potential that they did not have and will complement their arsenal of long-range weapons. This is just an additional arrow in the quiver that will give them more opportunities,” said an unnamed American government employee, as quoted by Politico.

According to the publication, the GLSDB was developed by the Swedish company Saab and the American Boeing and consists of a “high-precision guided bomb” weighing about 115 kg, attached to a rocket engine.

“It is launched (GLSDB.

- RT)

from various ground launchers. The US Armed Forces have a similar air-launched version of the bomb, but a ground-launched version has not yet entered US service,” Politico writes.

  • Arms supplies to Ukraine

  • AFP

  • © US Airforce

They also note that while GLSDBs do not have the range of the British Storm Shadow missiles or the US ATACMS long-range missiles, these shells will be supplied as Ukrainian artillery and ammunition stocks are running low.

Escalation course

As analysts explained, the delivery of GLSDB was delayed for a long time by the Pentagon due to technical problems associated with the operation of these projectiles, which until recently were being tested.

“Washington decided to implement the supply of GLSDB in full only now, since the Pentagon simply could not fulfill this promise earlier. It was necessary to resolve a number of technical problems regarding the use of GLSDB, which are considered innovative weapons and the operation of which required development and testing. Now that these bombs have been completed, their actual delivery has been confirmed in Washington,” explained Vasily Kashin, director of the Center for Comprehensive European and International Studies at the National Research University Higher School of Economics, in a commentary to RT.

Experts admit that the GLSDB projectile, intercepted back in March 2023, could have been used in Ukraine as part of the tests. According to experts, GLSDB can fly along a complex trajectory and maneuver to fire at targets. GLSDBs are based on M26 rockets and SDB guided bombs. With the ability to engage targets in a 360-degree range, the GLSDB provides commanders and military planners with an “extremely flexible weapon” that complements existing ballistic weapons, “significantly expanding current ground-based artillery capabilities,” according to Boeing.

At the same time, Vasily Kashin believes that with the supply of GLSDB, the Pentagon expects to circumvent some restrictions associated with production capacity in the United States for the production of missiles for HIMARS.

“The fact is that for the production of GLSDB, elements of old M-26 projectiles with cluster warheads are used. That is, the components for these GLSDB bombs are already available, which makes them easier to manufacture. GLSDB is a high-precision operational-tactical weapon, which Ukraine has little of, but which it also uses in the Russian rear. GLSDB should increase the Ukrainian Armed Forces’ ability to carry out long-range strikes,” the analyst noted.

  • US Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland

  • AP

  • © Manuel Balce Cenet

However, he doubts that GLSDB supplies can significantly change the situation on the battlefield, since the Russian Armed Forces know well how to counter such weapons.

“The Russian Armed Forces have already achieved success in reducing the effectiveness of the HIMARS MLRS. From new bombs, some visible effect can be observed only at first, but then it will decrease. Like the HIMARS missiles, GLSDB bombs will be intercepted by existing Russian air defense systems,” Kashin is confident.

As Alexey Podberezkin, director of the Center for Military-Political Studies at MGIMO, explained in a commentary to RT, in this case we are talking primarily about the Buk-M2 and Buk-M3 anti-aircraft missile systems.

“These are the weapons that can effectively combat weapons equipped with GLSDB, which, however, are too expensive and cannot be supplied to the Kyiv regime in large quantities,” Podberezkin believes.

In turn, as Pavel Feldman, associate professor at the Academy of Labor and Social Relations, noted, for Kyiv the supply of GLSDB precision bombs is significant not so much from a military, but from a political point of view.

“Today, there are no Western weapons that would provide a radical change in the situation on the battlefield in favor of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. However, after the failure of the so-called counter-offensive and the sharp reduction in the volume of American aid, Ukraine desperately needed some kind of positive news story. And the news about the supply of GLSDB, as expected in the West, should give false hope for the success of the Armed Forces of Ukraine,” Feldman said in an interview with RT.

However, sending GLSDB in any case should be regarded as another step by the United States “in the direction of escalation,” Evgeniy Semibratov, deputy director of the Institute for Strategic Studies and Forecasts of the RUDN University, lecturer at the Knowledge Society, noted in a conversation with RT.

“And from this Kyiv will make a media outlet that US President Joe Biden can use in his election campaign. In addition, the Pentagon will be able to evaluate the use of these projectiles in a real combat situation, which can be taken into account when making any design changes to the GLSDB. The West will do everything possible to somehow complicate the implementation of all the goals of the special operation for Russia, but the Russian Armed Forces are aware of how to deal with this, including by launching high-precision strikes on decision-making centers in Ukraine,” the expert concluded.