Up-to-date US-supplied missiles to Ukraine fall short: Pentagon explains why

Photo: GLSDB missiles did not meet expectations based on the experience of the war in Ukraine (SAAB)

Small-diameter high-precision GLSDB munitions did not meet expectations based on the experience of the war in Ukraine, stated Deputy US Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment William LaPlante at the CSIS security forum.

“One company, I won’t say who they are, came up with a really cool idea of taking an air-to-ground weapon and doing a ground launch version of it, and it would be a long-range fire weapon. They raced and did it as fast as they could, we even limited the testing in this country. We said, look just test for safety… And then we sent it to Ukrainians. It didn’t work,” explained LaPlante.

He explained that these munitions failed to perform for several reasons, including:

・interference from electronic warfare systems,

・typical debris and ground use,

・tactical application peculiarities.

Presumably, LaPlante was referring to the recently developed GLSDB missiles from Boeing, which were based on the GBU-39/B Small Diameter Bomb (SDB). Their testing concluded in December last year, and the first confirmed use against Russians appeared in February this year.

LaPlante summarized the situation, emphasizing that “when you send something to people in fight for their lives, and it doesn’t work, they’ll try it three times and then they’ll just throw it aside. So that’s happened”.

GLSDB in Ukraine

The discussions regarding the supply of GLSDB missiles to Ukraine began as early as 2022. The United States hesitated for some time about supplying the new missiles, fearing it could escalate the conflict. However, in February 2023, the Pentagon confirmed the transfer of GLSDB missiles to Ukraine.

At the time, Ukraine’s Defense Minister, Oleksiy Reznikov, emphasized that Ukraine would not use this type of weaponry to strike Russian territory but rather to defend the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine.