U.S. To Provide Ukraine With 150 km Range Missiles For Strikes On Crimea

The ammunition will be part of a new $2.2bn aid package.

The United States intends to supply Ukraine with high-precision Ground Launched Small Diameter Bomb (GLSDB) missiles with a range of 150 km, Reuters reports, citing officials familiar with the situation. The munitions will be part of a new $2.2 billion aid package.

GLSDB are developed by the U.S. corporation Boeing together with the Swedish group SAAB. These homing missiles can be launched from HIMARS multiple rocket launchers, including against moving targets. GLSDBs are controlled by inertial guidance systems and GPS, can eliminate electronic jamming, can be used in all weather conditions and against armored vehicles. Some reports suggest that Boeing offered the Pentagon to transfer these munitions to Kyiv in late November.

So far, the maximum range of missiles supplied to Ukraine has not exceeded 80 km. GLSDB will allow the AFU to strike the Crimea - from the front line on the banks of the Dnipro River. For example, the distance from Kherson to Yevpatoria is 170 km, and from Nova Kakhovka to Dzhankoi, an important railway junction, is 150 km.

According to the agency, a new military aid package will be announced as early as this week. In addition to the GLSDB, it will include equipment for Patriot SAMs, high-precision guided ammunition and additional Javelin APCs.

Kyiv insisted on ATACMS missiles with a range of 300 km, which can be launched from the same HIMARS units, but the U.S. has so far refused to satisfy this request, fearing escalation. Not everyone in Washington D.C. shares this opinion. Congressman Michael McCaul has recently accused President Joe Biden of cowardice for refusing to hand over ATACMS to Kyiv. According to McCaul, the "misguided fear of escalation" only prolongs the war. He also pointed out that the Ukrainians were asking for long-range missiles to "liberate their own sovereign territory."

A week ago, the British authorities announced the possibility of supplying the AFU with missiles capable of reaching targets on Russian territory. They noted that such missiles would make it possible to counter regular shelling of Ukraine's civilian infrastructure - they could help to destroy launching systems.