The United States has asked Lebanon to return a GBU-39 small-diameter bomb launched by the Israel Air Force toward Beirut during the operation that killed Hezbollah military commander Ali Tabatabai earlier this week, after it failed to detonate, according to Lebanese media.
According to Lebanese reports, US officials fear that the bomb could fall into Russian or Chinese hands.
The Lebanese government has not yet issued an official response.
What is the glide bomb?
The GBU-39 is a glide bomb manufactured by Boeing. Once launched, it deploys wings and can glide up to 110 km, despite lacking its own engine, allowing the aircraft to remain out of range while deploying the bomb.
Due to the absence of an engine, it is also relatively inexpensive, costing only about $50,000.
Glide bombs are no longer rare, but what distinguishes this one is its particularly efficient warhead, which allows it to cause significant damage relative to its weight, including the ability to penetrate concrete structures.
Weighing about 110 kg and compact, four of these can be carried instead of a one-ton Mark 84 bomb, allowing a single fighter jet to strike dozens of targets in a single sortie.
The GBU-39 also features GPS and inertial guidance systems designed to provide accuracy of up to 1 meter on impact, reducing the need for additional bomb launches, lowering risk to other aircraft, and cutting environmental damage and financial costs.
The small-diameter bomb (SDB) was first used in 2006 and was developed to maximize use of the F-35's internal weapons bays, which can carry eight bombs while remaining very difficult to detect.
US particular about who purchases glide bombs
To date, Boeing has produced about 20,000 of these kits, which the US has sold only to countries such as Italy, the Netherlands, Australia, and Saudi Arabia, and in a special ground-launched version, also to Ukraine.
The IAF refers to the bomb as “Sharp Hail,” and it is used by all Israeli fighter aircraft.