The B-2 Spirit Stealth Bomber Can Attack Warships at Sea

Summary and Key Points: During RIMPAC 2024, the U.S. Air Force's B-2 Spirit stealth bomber demonstrated its advanced capabilities by sinking a decommissioned warship using the innovative QUICKSINK munition.

-This live-fire exercise highlighted the potential of the B-2 to neutralize maritime threats in the Indo-Pacific. Funded by the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering, QUICKSINK uses a GBU-31/B Joint Direct Attack Munition with a radar seeker and infrared camera to ensure precision targeting.

-This capability underscores the B-2’s versatility and readiness while awaiting its successor, the B-21 Raider, to become operational.

The B-2 Bomber Can Now Attack Naval Warships 

Last week, a U.S. Air Force B-2 Spirit stealth bomber sunk a warship using a QUICKSINK munition.

The warship might have been a decommissioned U.S. Navy vessel, and the sinking might have been part of the largest international maritime exercise in the world, but the exercise showed how the Air Force could take out Chinese warships in a potential near-peer conflict in the Indo-Pacific.

B-2 Spirit & QUICKSINK

Active since 1971, Rim of the Pacific, or RIMPAC, is the largest international maritime exercise in the world. This year’s version involves almost thirty militaries with about forty-five aircraft carriers, missile-guided cruisers, destroyers, frigates, minesweepers, amphibious assault ships, replenishment ships, and submarines, as well as over 150 combat and support aircraft and 25,000 troops.

This year’s RIMPAC involved two live-fire sinking exercises, or SINKEXs, using the Navy’s decommissioned USS Dubuque and USS Tarawa.

The first warship was sunk by a B-2 Spirit stealth bomber using innovative methods.

Funded by the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering, the QUICKSINK project seeks to create new ways to sink enemy surface combatants. The QUICKSINK munition used by the B-2 Spirit during RIMPAC 24 was a GBU-31/B Joint Direct Attack Munition with a new radar seeker and an imaging infrared camera. To hit the target, the munition used a JDAM GPS guidance system and seeker/camera attachments to lock on to and successfully strike the target. The guidance system directed the munition to explode only after it had reached the hull below the waterline to maximize its destructive effect.

“Quicksink is distinctive as it brings new capabilities to both current and future Department of Defense weapon systems, offering combatant commanders and national leaders fresh methods to counter maritime threats,” Kirk Herzog, the program manager at the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL), said.

The B-2 Spirit can carry up to sixteen QUICKSINK munitions, making it a formidable asset in a potential conflict in the Indo-Pacific.

“Sinking exercises give us a chance to sharpen our skills, learn from one another, and get real-world experience,” U.S. Navy vice admiral John Wade, RIMPAC 2024 Combined Task Force commander, said in a press release.

“Using advanced weapons and seeing the professionalism of our teams during these drills shows our commitment to keeping the Indo-Pacific region safe and open,” Wade added.

“[The] capability is an answer to an urgent need to quickly neutralize maritime threats over massive expanses of ocean around the world at minimal costs,” the Navy stated.

The B-2 Spirit is a strategic stealth bomber that can carry both conventional and nuclear munitions. One of the most capable and cutting-edge aircraft of its time, the B-2 Spirit is slowly getting old, having made its maiden flight 35 years ago in 1989. The Air Force plans to replace the venerable strategic bomber with the B-21 Raider—which looks like a lot like the B-2 on the outside. But the new aircraft is still a few years away from being operational in force. So, in the meantime, older aircraft like the B-2 Spirit must remain capable of performing any mission that might arise, including sinking enemy warships by using innovative munitions.

About the Author

Stavros Atlamazoglou is a seasoned defense journalist specializing in special operations and a Hellenic Army veteran (national service with the 575th Marine Battalion and Army HQ). He holds a BA from Johns Hopkins University and an MA from Johns Hopkins’ School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS). His work has been featured in Business Insider, Sandboxx, and SOFREP.

All images are Creative Commons.