Saab has signed a memorandum of understanding with Hanwha Aerospace to explore integrating the Ground-Launched Small Diameter Bomb (GLSDB) into the Chunmoo rocket artillery system.
The integration will significantly boost the wheeled platform’s lethality, marrying the precision and agility of a glide bomb with the reach and saturation-firepower of rocket artillery.
Initially operated by South Korea, the Chunmoo has since been adopted by the armed forces of Poland, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates.
Mounted on an 8×8 Hanwha truck chassis, the Chunmoo employs two modular launch pods, each capable of carrying up to 20 130mm unguided rockets with a 36-kilometer (22-mile) range, six 227mm unguided or 239mm guided rockets with ranges of up to 80 kilometers (50 miles), or one 290mm tactical ballistic missile with a 290-kilometer (190-mile) range.
Meanwhile, the GLSDB provides long-range precision strike capability by pairing the air-launched GBU-39 Small Diameter Bomb with an M26 rocket motor, extending ground-launched engagement ranges to 150 kilometers (93 miles).
“With this agreement we are excited to explore how we can bring the long-range precision of GLSDB to current and future users of the Chunmoo launcher,” head of Saab’s business area Dynamics Görgen Johansson said.
“Together these would mean even more great capability is available to those who want a strike capability unmatched by traditional rocket or gun artillery.”
