The United States Air Force has developed a unique device that can quickly wreck a ship in before of your eyes. Their research lab has even released footage of the cutting-edge weapon, appropriately titled QUICKSINK, destroying a vessel in the Gulf of Mexico.
The Air Force Research Laboratory and Eglin’s Integrated Test Team conducted the QUICKSINK test on April 28, 2022.
Using an F-15E Strike Eagle fighter jet, a single bomb was launched on the empty shipping vessel, and the ship was sunk in less than 30 seconds. In the second footage, the ship is displayed on the seafloor, virtually cut in half.
The Air Force was naturally vague regarding the technology’s operation and effectiveness. However, they do show that QUICKSINK uses a modified 907-kilogram (2,000-pound) Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM), a piece of technology that converts unguided bombs, or “dumb bombs,” into precision-guided “smart” munitions capable of accurately hitting targets.
If GPS data is available, JDAM systems can direct free-falling bombs to a target with an accuracy of 5 meters (16.4 feet). Even without GPS data, it can strike a target with a margin of error of 30 meters (98 feet).
Torpedoes, underwater missiles launched from ships or submarines, are the most popular method of sinking enemy ships. This new technology, however, provides the military with a more effective means of destroying ships from the air. Furthermore, it is substantially less expensive than a torpedo and may be launched over a much broader region of water.
“Heavy-weight torpedoes are successful [at sinking large ships], but they are expensive and only used by a tiny percentage of naval units. “With QUICKSINK, we have demonstrated a low-cost, more agile solution that has the potential to be used by the majority of Air Force combat aircraft, providing combatant commanders and warfighters with more options,” Major Andrew Swanson, 85th TES division chief of Advanced Programs, said in a statement.
“A Navy submarine can 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, program manager at the AFRL.
