Washington, March 13 (Reuters) - The United States is set to restart shipments of long-range bombs called Ground-Launched Small Diameter Bombs (GLSDB) to Ukraine, following upgrades to enhance their effectiveness against Russian jamming, as informed by two knowledgeable sources to Reuters.
Reports indicate that Ukraine's supply of similarly ranged Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS) has been exhausted.
Under the administration of former President Joe Biden, the glide-bombs are provided to Ukraine through the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative. The U.S. has procured approximately $33.2 billion in new arms and military equipment for Kyiv directly from American and allied defense contractors.
The Trump administration agreed to restart intelligence sharing with Ukraine on Tuesday, in response to Kyiv's readiness to endorse Washington's proposal for a 30-day ceasefire with Russia.
In recent evaluations, 19 GLSDBs were test-fired to assess the upgraded features' effectiveness, including strengthening internal connections to improve resilience, as disclosed by the sources.
The reintroduction of GLSDBs into combat could happen in the upcoming days, given the stockpile in Europe. According to one source, the last deployment of these weapons by Ukrainians was several months ago.
Russian jamming had hindered many of Ukraine's relatively new long-range GLSDBs from hitting their intended targets, as reported by three sources to Reuters in May last year.
Over the past year, Ukraine has been seeking weapons with extended ranges beyond the 43 miles (69 km) provided by U.S.-supplied GMLRS rockets, to disrupt Russian supply lines and gathering points.
In response to this demand, Boeing presented a new weapon to the Pentagon with a 100-mile (161-km) range, the GLSDB. This glide-bomb features small wings that increase its reach and incorporates the GBU-39 Small Diameter Bomb (SDB) and the M26 rocket motor, both widely used in U.S. inventories and cost-effective.
Boeing declined to provide a comment.
However, in May, three briefed sources revealed that Russian jamming had successfully targeted the GLSDB's navigation system, which allows it to maneuver around obstacles like mountains and known air defenses.
The jointly-manufactured bomb by SAAB AB and Boeing was in development well ahead of Russia's recent large-scale actions in 2022.
Jamming occurs when significant energy is transmitted into an area, overwhelming a device's signal. Russia has employed this tactic against Ukrainian radios, drones, and even GPS-guided Excalibur 155-millimeter artillery munitions.