GBU-39 Small Diameter Bomb
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See also Talk:Al Ahli Hospital Bombing#GBU 39 Small diameter bomb
GBU 39 Small diameter bomb
- Wikipedia
- Small Diameter Bomb / Small Smart Bomb - Global Security
- Backgrounder (pdf) -Boeing
- Specs video - Precision stand off glide bomb designed to minimise collateral damage. See also
- Video of strike in Gaza - attributed as GBU39/31 (unverified)
- Video: Al-Jazeera - from 1m20s section on 39.
- Video: Test range strikes, including some air bursts immediately over target, one with sound
- IAF receives first batch of Small Diameter Bombs - Jerusalem Post, November 7, 2010
- US Rushes ‘Smart’ Bombs to Israel as Hamas Holds Dozens Hostage - Defence Post, October 11, 2023
- ...The air-launched guided SDB can strike a target 40 miles (64 kilometers) away,..It features a multipurpose penetrating blast-and-fragmentation warhead with a programmable fuze.
Diamond Back Wing Assembly
- MBDA Inc. Announces New Contract Award: Expanded Production of Diamond Back® Wing Assembly for Small Diameter Bomb (SDB-1) - MDBA, October 30, 2017
- MBDA is jointly held by Airbus Group (37.5%), BAE Systems (37.5%), and Leonardo (25%).
- Profits from fire: how MBDA’s UK links tie Britain to Bombs dropped on Gaza - Iain Overton, Action on Armed Violence, July 17, 2025
- European missile group MBDA selling parts for bombs that have killed children in Gaza - Disclose, July 17, 2025
Focused Lethality Munition
- GBU-39A/B FLM Bomb - Air Force Armament Museum
- The GBU-39A/B FLM (Focused Lethality Munition) weapon is an ultra low collateral damage version of the Small Diameter Bomb (SDB) weapon system. It is a multi-purpose, insensitive munition, penetrating, blast/fragmentation warhead for stationary targets...FLM uses a multiphase blast explosive fill developed by the Air Force Research Lab (AFRL) at Eglin AFB. The warhead is designed with a composite case to minimize case fragments.
- Small Diameter Bomb SDB Focused Lethality Munition (FLM) -Global Security
- Big Bang, Small Space: The USA’s “Focused Lethality Munitions” - Defense Industry Daily, April 19, 2012
- This Small Diameter Bomb variant changes the bomb’s casing and internal fill, in order to produce more devastating effects within a smaller area. A carbon-fiber bomb body disintegrates instead of fragmenting, which adds explosive force nearby but largely removes shrapnel issues beyond. Inside, metal particles turn the explosive material into short-range projectiles. The result is especially useful in urban areas, in situations where friendly elements are close to the impact zone, and in campaigns fought using contemporary American counter-insurgency doctrine.
- Boeing SDB Focused Lethality Munition (Archive pdf) - Boeing, May 2009
- Warhead: 206 lb (93 kg) blast ultra low fragmentation Fuze: electronic safe/arm fuze (ESAF) cockpit selectable functions, including air burst and delayed burst options
- Air Force to buy low-collateral-damage variant of Small Diameter Bomb - Rachel Cohen, Inside Defense, June 25, 2018
- "The FLM is made of carbon fiber and disintegrates upon impact instead of fragmenting, and it has an explosive compound that provides enhanced blast characteristics. The guided weapon provides a standoff range of more than 60 nautical miles to protect aircrews engaging threats in combat."
- COMPOSITE BOMB BODIES - L3 Harris
- A carbon-fiber-wound bomb body disintegrates instead of fragmenting, which adds explosive force nearby, but significantly lowers collateral damage, allowing it to be employed in situations where no other air delivered weapon can be utilized...
- A-10s Brandish Intriguing Mix Of Weapons In Middle East - The Drive, November 8, 2023
Dense Inert Metal Explosive
- DIME - Global Security
- Dense Inert Metal Explosive (DIME) - Military History Fandom
- Survivors close to the lethal zone may have their limbs amputated (as the microshrapnel can slice through soft tissue and bone) by the HMTA microshrapnel embedded in their body tissue
- Norwegian doctor: Israel used new type of weapon in Gaza - Amira Hass, Haaretz, January 19, 2009 (archived)
- The unknown weapon appears to mainly affect the body's lower part, he said. It severs the legs, leaving burns around the stump, small punctures in the skin and internal bleeding.
- According to Fosse, these injuries appear to be caused by a pressure wave generated when a missile hits the ground.
Ground Launched Small Diameter Bomb
- Despite speculation, the use of GLSDB bombs in Ukraine didn’t occur - Bulgarian Military, June 23, 2023
- Ukraine Situation Report: Ground Launched Small Diameter Bomb’s Arrival Finally Imminent - Howard Altman, The Drive, January 30, 2024
- How Can Russia Stop Ground-Launched Glide Bombs US is Sending to Ukraine? - Sputnik International, January 31, 2024
- US-made rocket-boosted bomb found at Russian position - Defence Blog, February 14, 2024
- L'Ukraine a tiré pour la toute première fois une GLSDB : la Russie expose des débris - Air Cosmos, February 14, 2024
- Ground Launched Small Diameter Bomb Headed To Ukraine For Its Second Try At Combat: Report - TWZ March 14, 2025
- Repaired GLSDBs for HIMARS to Be Sent to Ukraine: What Was Altered and Why - Defence Express, March 14, 2025
For reference: debris ascribed as GBU-39
- Video footage from building in Gaza where weapons fragments were catalogued and stored (from 1m15s)
- Diagnostic remnants of the GBU-39/B Small Diameter Bomb (SDB) - Armaments Research Services, September 23, 2024
Attributions of use
- What hit Al-Ahli Hospital in Gaza? - Dissonant Notes, October 24, 2023
- Al Ahli: Post script – The view from London - Dissonant Notes, November 14, 2023
- US-made munitions used in deadly strike on Rafah tent camp, CNN analysis shows] - CNN May 28, 2024
- Ball also concluded that while there is a variant of the GBU-39 known as the Focused Lethality Munition (FLM) which has a larger explosive payload but is designed to cause even less collateral damage, this was not the variant used in this case. “The FLM has a carbon fiber composite warhead body and is filled with tungsten ground into a powder. Photos of FLM testing have shown objects in the test coated in tungsten dust, which is not present [in video from the scene],” he told CNN.
- Sky News analysis identifies American-made bomb at Gaza school strike - Sam Doak, Sky News, June 6, 2024
- Israel used U.S. munition in deadly strike on U.N. school, experts say - Washington Post, June 6, 2024
- Allegra Goodwin @goodwinallegra on Twitter, August 10, 2024
- NEW: @cnn confirms a US-made GBU-39 small diameter bomb was used in an Israeli strike on a school and mosque compound in Gaza which killed at least 93 Palestinians according to local officials
- (h/t) to @easybakeovensz for helping identify the weapon
- Israeli strike on mosque and school in Gaza kills scores, sparking international outrage - CNN, August 11, 2024
Use in other theaters
- Syrian air defense force downs two out of six Israeli bombs fired at Damascus - Tass, May 29, 2023
- Ukraine Situation Report: Kyiv Says It’s Using Air-Launched Small Diameter Bombs - The War Zone May 24, 2024
- US-made GBU-39 SDB Glide Bomb is Beating Russian Jamming In Ukraine - The Aviationist, May 25, 2024
- Ukrainian Air Force adapted its aircraft to American GBU-39 bombs - Militarnyi, May 26, 2024
- Western Media Reports: Soviet Aircraft in Ukrainian Military Now Adapted for GBU-39 Small Diameter Bombs - Defence Express, May 26, 2024