A step up in the armament provided by the Americans to Ukraine: last Friday, the Pentagon officially approved the delivery of an unknown number of ground-launched small-diameter bombs (GLSDR), part of a $2.17 billion aid package.
These are precision guided rockets that will be a major upgrade of the Ukrainian army’s ability to capture territories from the Russians and the ability to attack distant targets compared to the armaments currently in the hands of the Ukrainians.
These rockets are a ground-based version of an aerial weapon launched from an aircraft. The range of the small diameter bombs is about 150 km, twice the range of the MLRS and HIMARS rockets supplied to the Ukrainians in the past.
Pentagon spokesman General Pat Ryder explained to UK DEFENSE JOURNAL and Reuters that this new long-range firepower will allow the Ukrainians to attack distant targets. Ukrainian military forces are now in the district of the city of Kherson, and from there it is possible with the help of the new bombs to attack targets in the north of the Crimean Peninsula, which the Russians captured years ago.
The Minister of Defense of Ukraine, General Oleksiy Reznikov, said this weekend that there is no doubt that the new equipment that his army will receive, such as tanks from the US, Germany and the UK, will help a Ukrainian counterattack, perhaps in the spring. “We need the tank coalition to conduct a counterattack,” said Minister Defense in Kiev.