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QUICKSINK munition. Air Force photo
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EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. - Eglin’s Integrated Test Team demonstrated in the Gulf of Mexico April 28 a new low-cost, air-delivered capability for defeating maritime threats. An 85th Test and Evaluation Squadron F-15E Strike Eagle released a modified GBU-31 joint direct attack munition that successfully destroyed a full-scale stationary surface vessel. It was the second experiment in the QUICKSINK Joint Capability Technology Demonstration. The QUICKSINK program, a Navy partnership, aims to provide options to neutralize surface maritime threats while demonstrating the inherent flexibility of the joint force. This JCTD uses a Joint Direct Attack Munition integrated with a new seeker to rapidly demonstrate an immediate effect on stationary or moving maritime targets at minimal costs. 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 munition explodes below the waterline of the target vessel, much like a torpedo. (Source:
Air Force Research Laboratory, 04/28/22,
Naval News, 03/06/22)
