Exclusive: U.S. weighs sending 100-mile strike weapon to Ukraine
By Mike Stone
A M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) takes part in a
military exercise near Liepaja, Latvia September 26, 2022. REUTERS/Ints Kalnins/File
Photo
WASHINGTON,
Nov 28 (Reuters) - 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 2023, according to a document reviewed by
Reuters and three people familiar with the plan. It combines the GBU-39 Small
Diameter Bomb (SDB) with the M26 rocket motor, both of which are common in U.S.
inventories.
Doug Bush, the U.S. Army's chief weapons buyer,
told reporters at the Pentagon last week the Army was also looking at accelerating production of 155 millimeter artillery shells - currently only manufactured
at government facilities - by allowing defense contractors to build them.
The invasion
of Ukraine drove up demand for American-made weapons and ammunition, while U.S.
allies in Eastern Europe are "putting a lot of orders," in for a
range of arms as they supply Ukraine, Bush added.
"It's
about getting quantity at a cheap cost," said Tom Karako, a weapons and
security expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. He said
falling U.S. inventories help explain the rush to get more arms now, saying stockpiles
are "getting low relative to the levels we like to keep on hand and
certainly to the levels we're going to need to deter a China conflict."
Karako also
noted that the U.S. exit from Afghanistan left lots of air-dropped bombs
available. They cannot be easily used with Ukrainian aircraft, but "in
today's context we should be looking for innovative ways to convert them to
standoff capability."
Although a
handful of GLSDB units have already been made, there are many logistical
obstacles to formal procurement. The Boeing plan requires a price discovery
waiver, exempting the contractor from an in-depth review that ensures the
Pentagon is getting the best deal possible. Any arrangement would also require
at least six suppliers to expedite shipments of their parts and services to
produce the weapon quickly.
A Boeing
spokesperson declined to comment. Pentagon spokesman Lt. Cmdr. Tim Gorman
declined to comment on providing any "specific capability" to
Ukraine, but said the U.S. and its allies "identify and consider the most
appropriate systems" that would help Kyiv.
Although the
United States has rebuffed requests for the 185-mile (297km) range ATACMS
missile, the GLSDB's 94-mile (150km) range would allow Ukraine to hit valuable
military targets that have been out of reach and help it continue pressing its
counterattacks by disrupting Russian rear areas.
GLSDB is made jointly by SAAB AB (SAABb.ST) and
Boeing Co (BA.N) and
has been in development since 2019, well before the invasion, which Russia
calls a "special operation". In October, SAAB chief executive Micael
Johansson said of the GLSDB: "We are imminently shortly expecting
contracts on that."
According to
the document - a Boeing proposal to U.S. European Command (EUCOM), which is
overseeing weapons headed to Ukraine - the main components of the GLSDB would
come from current U.S. stores.
The M26
rocket motor is relatively abundant, and the GBU-39 costs about $40,000 each,
making the completed GLSDB inexpensive and its main components readily
available. Although arms manufacturers are struggling with demand, those
factors make it possible to yield weapons by early 2023, albeit at a low rate
of production.
GLSDB is
GPS-guided, can defeat some electronic jamming, is usable in all weather
conditions, and can be used against armored vehicles, according to SAAB's
website. The GBU-39 - which would function as the GLSDB's warhead - has small,
folding wings that allow it to glide more than 100km if dropped from an
aircraft and targets as small as 3 feet in diameter.
INDUSTRY
MOTIVATION
At a
production plant in rural Arkansas, Lockheed Martin is redoubling efforts to
meet surging demand for mobile rocket launchers known as HIMARS, which have
been successful in hitting Russian supply lines, command posts and even
individual tanks. The No. 1 U.S. defense contractor is working through supply
chain issues and labor shortages to double production to 96 launchers a year.
Lockheed
Martin has posted more than 15 jobs related to the production of HIMARS,
including supply chain quality engineers, purchasing analysts, and testing
engineers, according to its website.
"We've
made investments in terms of infrastructure in the factory where we build HIMARS,"
said Becky Withrow, a sales leader at Lockheed Martin's missile unit.
Despite the increase in demand, Lockheed Martin's
chief financial officer told Reuters in
July that he did not expect significant Ukraine-induced revenue until 2024 or
beyond. The CFO of Raytheon Corp (RTX.N), another
major U.S. defense contractor, echoed that timeline in an interview with
Reuters this summer.
HIMARS fires
Guided Multiple Rocket Launch System missiles (GMLRS), which are GPS-guided
rounds with 200-pound (90kg) warheads. Lockheed Martin make about 4,600 of the
missiles per year; more than 5,000 have been sent to Ukraine so far, according
to a Reuters analysis. The U.S. has not disclosed how many GMLRS rounds have
been supplied to Ukraine.
Repurposing
weapons for regular military use is not a new tactic. The NASAMS anti-aircraft
system, developed by Kongsberg Defence and Aerospace and Raytheon, uses AIM-120
missiles - originally meant to be fired from fighter jets at other aircraft.
Another weapon, the Joint-Direct Attack Munition (JDAM), ubiquitous in U.S.
inventories, is a standard unguided bomb that has been fitted with fins and a
GPS guidance system.
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