JDAM Strike Destroys Surface Vessel as USAF Tests Low-cost Anti-ship Capability

The U.S. Air Force destroyed a full-scale surface vessel in the Gulf of Mexico on April 28 when an F-15E aircraft released a modified Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM), in what the U.S.A.F. calls as "a new low-cost, air-delivered capability for defeating maritime threats."

This is the second experiment in the QUICKSINK Joint Capability Technology Demonstration (JCTD). “QUICKSINK is an answer to an urgent need to neutralize maritime threats to freedom around the world,” said Col. Tony Meeks, director of the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL)'s Munitions Directorate said in a U.S.A.F. release today.

While torpedoes predominantly sink enemy ships via submarines, new methods explored through QUICKSINK may achieve anti-ship lethality with air-launched weapons, including modified 2,000-pound JDAM precision-guided bombs, the release said.

“Heavy-weight torpedoes are effective [at sinking large ships] but are expensive and employed by a small portion of naval assets,” said Maj. Andrew Swanson, 85th TES division chief of Advanced Programs. “With QUICKSINK, we have demonstrated a low-cost and more agile solution that has the potential to be employed by the majority of Air Force combat aircraft.”

“A Navy submarine has the ability to launch and destroy a ship with a single torpedo at any time, but the QUICKSINK JCTD 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,” said Kirk Herzog, AFRL program manager.

AFRL scientists and engineers are developing a weapon open systems architecture (WOSA) seeker to enable precise placement of the weapon. The implementation of WOSA also lowers costs by providing modularity via the ability to plug-and-play different manufacturers’ seeker components, which can lead to reduced weapon system costs and enhanced performance.

The QUICKSINK program, a partnership with the U.S. Navy, aims to provide options to neutralize surface maritime threats. This JCTD uses a JDAM to rapidly deliver an immediate effect on stationary or moving maritime targets at minimal costs.

AFRL is the QUICKSINK program technical lead while the operations manager is U.S. Indo-Pacific Command.