Free Republic

The Pentagon is considering a Boeing proposal to supply Ukraine with cheap, small precision bombs fitted onto abundantly available rockets, allowing Kyiv to strike far behind Russian lines as the West struggles to meet demand for more arms. U.S. and allied military inventories are shrinking, and Ukraine faces an increasing need for more sophisticated weapons as the war drags on. Boeing's proposed system, dubbed Ground-Launched Small Diameter Bomb (GLSDB), is one of about a half-dozen plans for getting new munitions into production for Ukraine and America's Eastern European allies, industry sources said. GLSDB could be delivered as early as spring...

Israel has received the first of the thousand new U.S. 250 pound (actually 285/129 kg) Small Diameter Bomb (SDB, or GBU-39) it ordered earlier this year. Apparently these weapons arrived quickly, and it's believed that some SDBs have already been used during Israeli air raids on Gaza. Earlier, the Israeli had received a few SDBs for evaluation, and some of these were apparently dropped as well. The SDB is not cheap, Israel paid about $77,000 for each one. It was believed that Israel wanted this weapon not just for its precision, and low explosive (17 kg/38 pounds) power, but also...

It was always something of a mystery why the U.S. Air Force developed the 285 pound (129 kg) Small Diameter Bomb (SDB). The official story was that this GPS guided smart bomb was needed for urban warfare. The smaller blast (17kg/38 pounds of explosives, compared to 127 kg/280 pounds for the 500 pound bomb) from the SDB resulted in fewer civilian casualties. Friendly troops can be closer to the target when an SDB explodes. While the 500, 1,000 and 2,000 pound bombs have a spectacular effect when they go off, they are often overkill. The troops on the ground would...

The Israel Air Force used a new bunker-buster missile that it received recently from the United States in strikes against Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip on Saturday. The GPS-guided GBU-39 is said to be one of the most accurate bombs in the world.