US set to give Ukraine longer-range smart bombs

The US is expected to send ground-launched small-diameter bombs that would double Ukraine’s current strike range as part of a nearly $2.2bn aid package to be announced on Friday, according to people familiar with the matter.

The smart bombs have a range of 94 miles and can be fired from several kinds of rocket launchers including Himars that have been sent to the country. Ukraine’s longest-range bomb is the Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System, which has a range of 53 miles.

Friday’s package follows a joint announcement by the US and Germany last week to send main battle tanks in a shift towards heavier and more offensive weaponry as the west seeks to prepare Ukraine to go back on the counteroffensive in the spring. Russia has amassed more than 300,000 troops in Ukraine and is stepping up artillery attacks in brutal battles in the east of the country. Ukrainian officials warn Moscow is preparing to go back on the offensive in the coming weeks.

While the bomb system will help Ukraine attack Russian targets previously out of reach, it falls short of Kyiv’s pleas for the even longer-range Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS), which can reach 185 miles.

US officials continue to rebuff Ukrainian requests for ATACMS over concerns that Kyiv would use the systems to strike targets inside of Russia, risking drawing Moscow into direct conflict with Nato.

Russia’s foreign minister Sergei Lavrov on Thursday warned the decision to send longer-range bombs could prolong the war.

“Now we are striving to push away [Ukrainian] artillery to a distance that will not threaten our territory,” Lavrov said in an interview with state newswire Ria Novosti. “The longer the range of weapons supplied to the Kyiv regime by the west, the further away we need to move them from Russian borders.”

The US will grant contracting funds for Ukraine to purchase the ground launched small diameter bombs, part of about $1.7bn in assistance coming from a fund called the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative. The package will also include $425mn in aid to come directly from US weapons stockpiles.

The relatively low-cost system is a joint project by Saab and Boeing, which combines a 113kg precision-guided munition with a rocket. According to Saab, the system is so precise it can hit within the radius of a car tyre.

The package would also include air defence components, additional ammunition and spare parts for systems already on the battlefield, people familiar with the matter said.