QUICKSINK, the U.S. Air Force’s new low-cost, air-delivered anti-ship weapon, has successfully destroyed a full-scale stationary surface vessel on Apr. 28 in the Gulf of Mexico.
U.S. Air Force photo / 1st Lt Lindsey Heflin
The Air Force Research Laboratory had previously said that the QUICKSINK aims to replicate the lethality of a Navy MK-48 torpedo, achieving torpedo-like seaworthy kills from the air. With higher rates and over a greater area.
The latest photos of the weapon show modified 2,000-pound GBU-31 Joint Direct Attack Munitions carried on an F-15E. A logo attached to the tip of the GBU-31 depicts a destroyer being sunk by a JDAM after its keel was broken. This method of sinking a ship using a torpedo is also known as “breaking its back.”
“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, providing combatant commanders and warfighters with more options”
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