US and allied military stockpiles are shrinking and Ukraine faces a growing need for more sophisticated weaponry as the war drags on. Boeing’s proposed system, called the Ground-Launched Small Diameter Bomb (GLSDB), is one of about half a dozen plans to produce new munitions for Ukraine and America’s allies in Eastern Europe, industry sources said. The GLSDB could be delivered as early as spring 2023, according to a document reviewed by Reuters and three people familiar with the plan. It combines the GBU-39 small diameter bomb with the M26 rocket motor, both of which are common in the US stockpile. Doug Bush, the US military’s chief weapons buyer, said the military is also considering speeding up production of 155mm artillery shells – currently made only at government facilities – by allowing defense contractors to make them. Although the United States rejected requests for the 297-kilometer-range Military Tactical Missile System, the GLSDB’s 150-kilometer range would allow Ukraine to hit high-value military targets that were out of reach and help it continue to push its counterattacks by disrupting Russian back areas.
