The Department of Defense is weighing an offer from Boeing to provide Ukraine with a new rocket-powered glide bomb. The Ground-Launched Small Diameter Bomb (GLSDB) pairs a 250-pound aircraft bomb with a GPS seeker, wings, and a rocket motor, giving it the range to strike targets more than twice as far as Ukraine\u2019s existing\u00a0Guided Multiple Launch Rocket Systems<\/a>\u00a0(GMLRS). The weapon would allow Ukrainian rocket troops to strike farther and deeper behind Russian lines, laying the groundwork for the eventual liberation of Kyiv\u2019s lost territories.<\/p>\n According to\u00a0Reuters<\/a><\/em>, Boeing has proposed the Ground-Launched Small Diameter Bomb as part of a military aid package to Ukraine. GLSBD, first tested in 2015, is a new weapon that is built around a MK.-81 250-pound\u00a0bomb<\/a>. A MK.-81 is an aircraft-delivered bomb that weighs 264 pounds with a 99-pound payload of Tritonal or Comp-B (RDX and TNT) explosives. The MK.-81 is a \u201cdumb\u201d bomb\u2014dropped by a bombardier or pilot\u2014that free-falls along a short, uncorrected ballistic path to the target.<\/p>\n A Brief History of the Ground-Launched Small Diameter Bomb<\/strong><\/p>\n In the 1990s, the U.S. pioneered new GPS-guided \u201csmart\u201d bombs. These were bombs fitted with a GPS receiver and steering fins, giving the bomb the capability to self-steer to a precise set of\u00a0GPS coordinates<\/a>. In the 2000s, it was followed up with the addition of pop-out wings that allowed the bombs to glide toward their targets, boosting their attack range. The higher the altitude at which a glide bomb is released, the farther it can glide. The glide version of the MK.-81, the\u00a0GBU-39B Small Diameter Bomb<\/u><\/a>, can attack targets up to 40 miles from the release point.<\/p>\n In the 2010s, Boeing and SAAB developed the Ground-Launched Small Diameter Bomb. GLSDB attaches a rocket motor\u2014the same kind GMLRS rockets use to fire from\u00a0HIMARS rocket trucks<\/a>\u2014to the Small Diameter Bomb. The rocket propels the bomb to what must be a considerable altitude, as the GLSDB has a range of 93 miles, more than twice as much as an aircraft-delivered Small Diameter Bomb. Here\u2019s a video of GLSDB in action:<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.fie.undef.edu.ar\/ceptm\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/an-f-a-18-hornet-carries-a-strike-payload-consisting-of-an-news-photo-1669673896.jpg\")