B-2 stealth bomber shows low-cost munition can be used to destroy ships

The US Air Force has demonstrated how a ship can be sunk using a low-cost Joint Direct Attack Munition.

Working with the US Navy, a B-2 Spirit stealth bomber dropped a Quicksink precision-guided bomb to sink a decommissioned cargo ship in the Gulf of Mexico near Eglin Air Force Base.

Munitions Directorate director Colonel Matthew Caspers, from the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL), said: "The development of this technology helps deliver technological superiority to ensure the United States can defend our interests, maintain freedom of action and seize the initiative over large maritime areas."

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"The men and women of the Munitions Directorate consistently find ways to solve our nation's greatest challenges.

"Quicksink is an answer to an urgent need to neutralise maritime threats to freedom around the world.

"This programme is unique in that it can provide capabilities to modify existing and future Department of Defence weapons systems, giving combatant commanders and our national leaders new ways to defend against maritime threats."

The B-2 was shown to be able to counter the threat of surface vessels, similar to those currently being faced in the Red Sea.

The US Air Force said: "The collaboration between the AFRL, US Navy and industry partners represents a significant step forward in the US Air Force's naval warfare capabilities.

"This capability is an answer to an urgent need to quickly neutralise maritime threats over massive expanses of ocean around the world."