U.S. Air Force Tests Out Anti-Ship Bomb Near Russia's Doorstep

 

Earlier this month, the U.S. Air Force and Royal Norwegian Air Force tried out the USAF's new antiship bomb against a maritime target in the Norwegian Sea, achieving the desired effect.

Quicksink is designed to follow a ship's movements while in mid-flight, with enough precision that it can drop into the water right alongside. When it sinks to a certain preset depth below the keel, it detonates, forcing the hull to hog upwards with the blast. The ship then falls back down, sags, and (in at least one prior test) breaks in two. In prior testing on a small merchant ship, complete sinking was achieved in under 20 seconds. This is the method of destruction delivered by heavyweight torpedoes, generally considered the gold standard of maritime lethality - but at a small fraction of a torpedo's cost. 

A Quicksink test in 2022 (Air Force Research Laboratory)

“A Navy submarine has the ability to launch and destroy a ship with a single torpedo at any time, but the Quicksink aims to develop a low-cost method of achieving torpedo-like kills from the air at a much higher rate and over a much larger area,” explained AFRL program manager Kirk Herzog in 2022.

This month, the U.S. Air Force conducted a new round of testing - this time, far from home. After a week of preparation for the bomb load, a U.S. Air Force B-2 bomber out of Whiteman AFB, Missouri flew all the way to the Norwegian Sea, where it met up with four F-35 fighters of the Royal Norwegian Air Force and one P-8A Poseidon maritime search aircraft. Escorted by the Norwegian fighters, the B-2 crew dropped more than one bomb on an unspecified maritime target, sinking it. 

Courtesy RNoAF

Courtesy USAF

“This test is a clear example of how we work with trusted allies to bring new capabilities into play faster and smarter,” said U.S. Air Force Col. Scott Gunn, 53rd Wing commander. “We’re not just preparing for tomorrow; we’re shaping it together.”

The test comes amidst rising tensions between Russia and NATO, including suspicions about the movements of Russia's fishing, research and tanker vessels. In the Baltic, Russia-linked tankers have been accused of attempted or actual damage of subsea cables. Across Northern Europe, defense planners are concerned at the amount of time that Russian research ships have spent near critical subsea infrastructure. And Russia's fishing fleet is universally suspected of spying on NATO interests, so much so that Norway has sharply restricted their access (and will even seize them if they stay too long). 

In the event of conflict, an inexpensive, proven weapon like Quicksink would be a cost-effective way to resolve these small-vessel threats if they posed a threat to strategic subsea pipelines - critical for delivering Norwegian gas to Europe. A new, 500-pound version of the bomb would be sized and priced appropriately for small vessel threats. Paired with a stealth delivery vehicle like the B-2, it would also be an efficient deterrent to bottle up the surface combatants of Russia's Northern Fleet in the Barents Sea, away from the likely conflict zone of the North Atlantic.