유도탄 림팩 2024에서 시연된 각종 유도무기; B-2에서 발사된 퀵싱크 대함유도폭탄, 무인함에서 발사된 유도로켓

[위종민]

이번 림팩 2024 SINKEX에서는 퇴역한 강습상륙함 LHA-1 USS 타라와와 LPD-8 USS 더부크를 표적으로 LRASM 등을 사격했는데, B-2도 퀵싱크 대함유도폭탄을 투하했다고 합니다. 타라와함은 7월 11일, 더부크함은 7월 19일 침몰했습니다. 

아직 동영상이나 사진은 공개되지 않았는데, 훈련 끝나고 공개되려나요. 4만 톤 넘어가는 대형함정에 대한 실사격 자료이니 민간에 공개하지 않을 가능성도 있으려나. 

미해군의 무인수상함인 CUSV( Common Unmanned Surface Vehicle )도 7월 12일 한국 해군의 천자봉함에서 출격해 포니아드 유도로켓 ( K-LOGIR ) 실사격 훈련을 실시했네요.

B-2 Test Launches New Low-Cost Anti-Ship Weapon at Warship in the Pacific (airandspaceforces.com)

The decommissioned amphibious assault ship, USS Tarawa, is towed out to sea by USNS Grasp, a safeguard-class rescue and salvage ship, to be sunk during a long-planned, live-fire sinking exercise (SINKEX) off the coast of Kauai, July 16, 2024. New Zealand Air Force photo by Cpl. Maddy Butcher

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B-2 Test Launches New Low-Cost Anti-Ship Weapon at Warship in the Pacific

July 23, 2024 | By Chris Gordon

The U.S. military conducted an unusual exercise recently during which a U.S. Air Force B-2 Spirit stealth bomber helped sink a decommissioned U.S. warship in the Pacific using relatively inexpensive GPS-guided bombs.

As part of the massive RIMPAC maritime and air exercise, the U.S. sunk two warships with live-fire weapons: the ex-USS Tarawa, an amphibious assault ship, and the ex-USS Dubuque, an amphibious transport dock, in what is known as a SINKEX.

SINKEXs are training exercises in which decommissioned naval vessels are used as targets. This year, the USS Tarawa was hit by the U.S. military’s top-shelf maritime strike weapon, the multimillion dollar stealthy Long-Range Anti-Ship Missile (LRASM), which was fired from a U.S. Navy F/A-18F Super Hornet.

But the USAF also came to play, and in a novel way.

Along with Navy assets, the B-2 “proved a low-cost, air-delivered method for defeating surface vessels through a QUICKSINK demonstration,” the U.S. Third Fleet, which is responsible for U.S. Navy operations in the Pacific, said in a July 22 release. “This capability is an answer to an urgent need to quickly neutralize maritime threats over massive expanses of ocean around the world at minimal costs.”

After two decades of intensive bombing during the Global War on Terror, QUICKSINK and LRASM demonstrate just how much the Air Force’s focus has shifted despite the ongoing conflicts still raging in the Middle East, including some involving U.S. forces.

“This is a sign of the Air Force’s renewed focus on maritime strike, which it had walked away from after the Cold War ended,” Stacie Pettyjohn, director of the defense program at the Center for a New American Security, told Air & Space Forces Magazine.

QUICKSINK is a system now mated to JDAMs, the near-ubiquitous air-to-surface GPS guidance kit for bombs. It has additional guidance to turn those weapons into ship-killers, offering more value for money and giving commanders more options, the Navy and Air Force say. 

“Torpedoes, such as the heavyweight MK-48, are still the primary method used to sink enemy ships,” the Air Force Research Laboratory (ARFL) says of QUICKSINK. “New methods explored through QUICKSINK may be able to achieve the same kind of anti-ship lethality with air-launched weapons, including modified 2,000-pound class precision-guided bombs.”

An F-15E Strike Eagle at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla. with modified 2,000-pound GBU-31 Joint Direct Attack Munitions as part of the second test in the QUICKSINK Joint Capability Technology Demonstration, April 28, 2022. QUICKSINK successfully destroyed a full-scale surface vessel as part of a demonstration in the Gulf of Mexico. U.S. Air Force photo by 1st Lt. Lindsey Heflin

Pentagon and open-source wargames have shown precision munitions, especially LRASMs, would be expended quickly in a conflict with China, in perhaps a few days. Torpedos are also expensive and can only be deployed by a few Navy platforms. The new Joint Strike Missile (JSM) is on its way in the coming years, but that still leaves room for a wide variety of anti-ship weapons in between.

“Both standoff and penetrating maritime strikes are needed to create the volume that’s going to be required to deny the first attempt by the PLA Navy to invade a friend such as Taiwan or elsewhere in the South China Sea,” said Mark Gunzinger, director of future concepts and capability assessments at the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies.

QUICKSINK capabilities are not brand new, with previous tests being conducted by fourth-generation F-15E Strike Eagle fighters in 2021 and 2022. The program is still a “technology demonstration,” according to AFRL, not a front-line weapon. Whatever the precise weapon, U.S. military leaders have noted that munitions stockpiles have been an easy place to save money. But Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which has stressed Western and Russian defense industries to near their breaking point, along with the prospect of the U.S. being involved in a conflict to repel China from seizing the self-governing island of Taiwan, have shown just valuable munitions are.

“It would be impossible to fight and win against China from only long-range,” Pettyjohn said. “It is also hard to generate sufficient mass over a period of time with standoff strikes.”

“QUICKSINK would complement existing anti-ship missile procurements and provide a much lower-cost weapon that could be bought in large numbers,” she added. “It would, along with LRASM and JSM, provide the Air Force with a range of maritime strike options that can be launched from different ranges.”

A QUICKSINK munition could also be especially valuable in disrupting undefended enemy logistics vessels such as cargo ships and oilers, which often lack their own advanced air defense systems, Pettyjohn added.

The latest test occurred during RIMPAC, which is the world’s largest maritime exercise, with 25,000 personnel from 29 nations participating, bringing with them 40 surface ships, three submarines, more than 150 aircraft, and 14 national land forces exercise in and around the Hawaiian Islands, June 27 to Aug. 1, according to numbers from the Third Fleet.

With the U.S. military focused on a possible flight with China over Taiwan, the U.S. has been trying to ramp up LRASM production. The missile is a derivative of the JASSM long-range cruise missile, which is made on the same production line by Lockheed Martin. But with tight government budgets, even if production could ramped up, LRASMs are still pricey. The missiles cost upwards of $3 million a copy, which makes them cost-prohibitive to buy in massive numbers, Gunzinger and Pettyjohn said.

“The Air Force and the DOD simply can’t buy enough of them to meet requirements,” Gunzinger said.

Gunzinger, a former B-52 pilot who focused on assessing capabilities to counter anti-access and area-denial (A2/AD) threats in different civilian positions, said the Pentagon and the Air Force are rightfully looking at developing cheaper, short- and medium-range standoff weapons, as stealthy aircraft cannot fly completely unfettered in contested airspace.

“Having a portfolio of different maritime strike weapons that includes high, low, and medium options is ideally what is needed,” Pettyjohn added.

As for QUICKSINK, the system has been in the making for a long time. In 2004, Pacific Air Forces practiced employing JDAMs against the ex-USS Schenectady in an exercise known as Resultant Fury some 20 years ago, and U.S. Airmen have been targeting ships for over a century.

The ex-USS Dubuque and ex-USS Tarawa were sunk on July 11 and July 19, respectively, just shy of the anniversary of Army Air Service Brig. Gen. Billy Mitchell’s sinking of another decommissioned vessel, the captured German battleship Ostfriesland, on July 21, 1921—one of the most significant events in the evolution of airpower.

“The most effective—and efficient—way to kill ships is from the air,” said retired Lt. Gen. David A. Deptula, who was the two-star director of air and space operations for Pacific Air Forces during its 2004 Resultant Fury test and is now the dean of the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies. “The Air Force has a history of maritime attack, and it should double down on that history with appropriate funding support from the Congress.”

U.S. Navy Conducts Successful Live-Fire Demonstration at RIMPAC 2024 - Seapower (seapowermagazine.org)

U.S. Navy Conducts Successful Live-Fire Demonstration at RIMPAC 2024 - Seapower

U.S. Navy Conducts Successful Live-Fire Demonstration at RIMPAC 2024

Posted on July 23, 2024 by Seapower Staff

A Common Unmanned Surface Vehicle (CUSV), heads out to sea for the Poniard launching test from ROKS Cheon Ja Bong as part of the Rim of the Pacific Exercise (RIMPAC), 12 July. 

By From: Program Executive Office Unmanned and Small Combatants (PEO USC) Public Affairs, July 22, 2024 

HONOLULU, Hawaii  –  The U.S. Navy achieved a significant milestone at the Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) 2024 exercise with the successful launching and testing of Poniard rockets from a Common Unmanned Surface Vehicle (CUSV). The 12 July test is part of the Navy’s mission to continually enhance and expand its maritime capabilities and operational flexibility via security cooperation and innovation with allies and partners. 

Multiple Poniard rockets, low-cost guided munitions, were fired from the CUSV during a series of exercises conducted off the coast of Hawaii. The live-fire demonstration was the culminating event of an ongoing Foreign Comparative Test (FCT) project under the auspices of the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering (OUSD R&E). This innovative capability test demonstrates the Navy’s commitment to integrating mature cutting-edge technology into its operations to maintain maritime superiority and readiness. 

“The successful live fire demonstration from the CUSV showcases our ability to rapidly deploy and use low-cost guided munitions from unmanned platforms,” Capt. Matthew Lehmann, program manager of the Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) Mission Modules Office. “This capability enhances our operational reach and effectiveness, ensuring the Navy remains a dominant force in maritime operations.” 

This live fire demonstration was part of the RIMPAC exercise, held biennially in and around the Hawaiian Islands, which is the world’s largest international maritime warfare exercise hosted by U.S. Third Fleet. It provides a unique training opportunity for participating nations’ navies to foster and sustain cooperative relationships that are critical to ensuring the safety and security of the world’s oceans. This year’s exercise includes 29 nations, 40 surface ships, three submarines, more than 150 aircraft, and 25,000 personnel​. 

“The Rim of the Pacific exercise has grown over the years to be the world’s largest and premier joint combined maritime training opportunity,” said Vice Adm. John Wade, commander, U.S. 3rd Fleet and RIMPAC 2024 Combined Task Force (CTF) commander. “The exercise’s purpose is to build relationships, to enhance interoperability and proficiency and, ultimately, contribute to the peace and stability in the vitally-important Indo-Pacific region.” 

For more RIMPAC 2024 information and updates, visit https://www.cpf.navy.mil/rimpac/. Any additional questions or queries should be sent to rimpac.media@gmail.com. 

The Navy’s LCS mission modules program is a part of the Program Executive Office, Unmanned and Small Combatants portfolio, which designs, develops, builds, and delivers the Navy’s unmanned maritime systems; mine warfare systems; special warfare systems; expeditionary warfare systems; and small surface combatants.

[Minowski(김유철)]

이제 수상함 숫자가 역전되는 상황에서 가장 필요한 전력들이네요.
그나저나 세월무상이네요. 소싯적 미군의 상륙전력의 상징이었던 타라와급도 이제 물고기 놀이터행..

[위종민]

저도 타라와가 가라앉았단 소식에 만감이 교차하더라구요.