U.S. Air Force Sinks a Ro/Ro to Test Antiship Bomb

 

As part of its ongoing effort to perfect a new class of weapon - the precision-guided antiship bomb - the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory has sunk another merchant vessel in the Gulf of Mexico. 

For years, a team at AFRL has been working with the U.S. Navy on an anti-ship guidance system that works with the Pentagon's standard smart bomb tail kit, the Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) - among the most common and affordable guided weapons in the U.S. inventory. Their objective was to create a $40,000 bomb that rivals the performance of a $5 million Mk 48 heavyweight torpedo. 

Quicksink-equipped 2,000-pound bombs on an F-15E Strike Eagle, 2022 (USAF / AFRL)

“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.

In the first round of testing in 2022, the lab attached this "Quicksink" guidance kit to a 2,000-pound bomb, loaded it onto an F-15E Strike Eagle, and dropped it on a decommissioned merchant ship. The vessel broke in half, and the stern section slipped below in 20 seconds, followed by the bow 17 seconds later.

A second test was carried out on the decommissioned amphib USS Tarawa last month off the coast of Hawaii, as part of a sinking exercise for the Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) maneuvers. Detailed results have not been released, but the target ultimately sank after multiple hits from different munitions. 

In July, AFRL tested Quicksink again - this time on a much different vessel, the small ro/ro Monarch Countess (IMO 7500736). A B-2 stealth bomber dropped the munition on the Countess off of Destin-Fort Walton Beach on Florida's Gulf Coast; no video of the test was released.

The Countess' sinking was carried out in partnership with Okaloosa County's artificial reef program, which redeploys older tonnage as an attraction for dive tourism and a habitat for fish. At a site depth of 180 feet, the wreckage will be accessible to recreational divers. 

Monarch Countess was a 2,700 dwt ro/ro freighter built in 1977. Her previous name was Cap Canaille, and she once flew the French flag for CMA CGM.