Wednesday, October 24, 2018

The U.S. Military Has Successfully Tested Delivering A 2,000lb Naval Mine From A B-52 60 Kilometers Away From The Target

U.S. Air Force Airmen with the 96th Aircraft Maintenance Unit prepare a Quickstrike mine to be loaded onto a B-52 at Andersen Air Force Base, Sept. 16. Air Force photo.

Strategy Page: Submarines: The Long Arm Of The Hidden Threat

In September 2018 the U.S. successfully used a JDAM glide and satellite navigation kit to deliver a 2,000 pound (909 kg) Quickstrike naval mine to a location over sixty kilometers from where the B-52 bomber was. This Quickstrike had no explosives, just inert material to maintain the proper weight. The Quickstrike had its naval mine sensors and other electronics plus a locator device. That enabled a ship to locate and recover the Quickstrike, which was found to be functioning properly. These tests began in 2015, using a 500 pound (228 kg) Quickstrike and later a 1,000 pound (456 kg) Quickstrike. Now the air force or navy can deliver all three sizes of these Quickstrike ER (extended range) mines using JDAM. In addition to GPS JDAM also has an unjammable (but somewhat less accurate) INS (inertial guidance system). This less accurate INS is precise enough for Quickstrike.

Read more ....

WNU Editor: Here are two excellent articles that describe this successful test and what it means:

B-52 Tested 2,000lb Quickstrike-ER Winged Standoff Naval Mines During Valiant Shield (Warzone/The Drive)
Navy, Air Force Test Deploys 2,000-Pound Mine at Stand-off Range (USNI News)

2 comments:

Roger Smith said...


Boy! Isn't this something! No more destroyers being overhead the U-boat and flinging depth charges out a short distance. 2000 pounds from 35 miles away on a....guess what....what else but old faithful. B-52.
This old dinosaur makes up for the f-35 in the finance department. Every new explodable toy the air force comes up with goes on this flying fossil and lot's of'm. I get the biggest kick out of these things. I could hear their carpet bombing of Uncle Ho's highway over in Cambodia. An almost inaudible low sound. Indistinct but unmistakeable. At night.
This new "mine"...I guess it doesn't have to hit and the target suffers equipment damage? Becomes not so useful? And wants to leave the area as quickly as it can. That would rattle some crew's composure, knowing you are pinpointed by this thing.

Anonymous said...

Roger, not sure if I ever want to hear the carpet bombing sound a B52 makes lol

But to the point.. its a tell tale sign the B52 would be used for the mining operation -- I expect the South China sea is target.

If China wants to landgrab, they have to do it now OR get rid of Trump, because 6 more years under him, and China would not win in any simulation anymore. (not that they have the actual knowledge on how to fight, but in simulations - especially home defense, where they can use their many rockets,and where logistics costs would be too high - they would win).. but trump would nuke them, you better believe it, Xi - so better pay up for the trillions you stole from us! Trump will want that back