US postpones supply of long-range air bombs to Ukraine until next year – Reuters

The US has postponed the supply of the first large batch of long-range GPS-guided air bombs able to fly an almost 160-km distance to Ukraine until 2024.

Source: Reuters with reference to informed sources from the US Department of Defence as reported by European Pravda

Details: According to an unnamed representative of the Pentagon, the supply of this armament is expected at the beginning of 2024 after its successful inspection.

According to sources, the supply of GLSDB by the Boeing company will be conducted at the end of December, and then testing will be conducted for a few more months before it is sent to Ukraine.

Since the contract for the beginning of production of GLSDB was signed in March 2023, the supply was postponed until the end of the year. The production required the materials provided by the government, so its start had to be postponed.

It 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.

GLSDB is operated with the help of GPS, can overcome electronic obstacles, be used under any weather conditions and can also be used against armoured vehicles.

Background:

• Earlier, it was reported that the US was negotiating with Greece about the purchase of 75,000 artillery shells from the storages of the Armed Forces of Greece in order to replenish the Ukrainian ammunition.
• Before that, the European Commission urged the EU states to intensify the defence industrial complex to increase the production of ammunition for Ukraine.
• The European Union will not supply one million artillery rounds to Ukraine by March 2024, Germany’s Defence Minister Boris Pistorius said.
• Amid concerns that the EU will not supply Ukraine with a million artillery rounds by March 2024, France agreed to review a previous requirement to only purchase ammunition in Europe.

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