US postpones sale of GLSDB missiles with 150km launch range to Taiwan by three years because of commitments to Ukraine

Taiwan will not be able to acquire Ground-Launched Small Diameter Bomb (GLSDB) high-precision systems in time. Deliveries will start in at least three years.

Here's What We Know

Taiwan has submitted a request to acquire GLSDB in late 2022. Boeing has yet to mass produce the new weapon, so Taiwan has to take a turn. In February, the US officially announced that the GLSDBs were part of a $2.2bn military aid package to Ukraine.

Funds to finance the purchase of GLSDBs were not included in the draft 2024 defense budget. The Taiwanese newspaper Up Media writes that the new projectiles could be ordered in three years.

The GLSDB is a symbiosis of an M26 missile and a 115kg GBU-39/B SDB guided bomb. The maximum launch range is 150 km. The munition uses an inertial guidance system and GPS.

The Taiwanese Army has the M142 HIMARS highly mobile artillery rocket system and the M270 MLRS multiple rocket launcher systems which can use the GLSDB. The new munition will enable Taiwan to create a three-tiered strike capability along with the GMLRS and ATACMS with launch ranges of 80 km and 300 km respectively.

Source: Up Media