The U.S. military is experimenting with potential future weapon systems at the ongoing Rim of the Pacific 2024 exercise in Hawaii, using a weapon known as QUICKSINK during the biennial drill’s sinking exercise.
U.S. forces used QUICKSINK – born out of collaboration between the Air Force Research Laboratory and the U.S. Navy – in the Friday sinking exercise that featuredformer amphibious assault ship USSTarawa (LHA-1) as the target, according to aMonday U.S. 3rd Fleet news release.
“[I]n a partnership with the U.S. Navy, a U.S. Air Force B-2 Spirit stealth bomber proved a low-cost, air-delivered method for defeating surface vessels through a QUICKSINK demonstration, as part of the second SINKEX,” U.S. 3rd Fleet said in the release.
“The QUICKSINK experiment is funded by the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering and aims to provide options to neutralize surface maritime threats while demonstrating the inherent flexibility of the joint force. 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.”
During the Friday SINKEX, U.S. forces also used a F/A-18F Super Hornet outfitted with a Long-Range Anti-Ship Missile. The Royal Australian Navy also had the chance to perform a successful live fire testing of its Naval Strike Missile, which destroyer HMAS Sydney(DDG-42) fired on the former Tarawaduring the SINKEX.
“During the SINKEXs, participating units from Australia, Malaysia, the Netherlands, the Republic of Korea, and the U.S. Air Force, Army and Navy gained proficiency in tactics, targeting and live firing against surface ships at sea,” 3rd Fleet said in the release.
In addition to the Friday SINKEX with the former Tarawa,RIMPAC participants also joined for a SINKEX on July 11 featuring former Austin-class amphibious transport dock USSDubuque (LPD-8), which was decommissioned in 2011.
“Sinking exercises give us a chance to sharpen our skills, learn from one another, and get real-world experience,” U.S. Navy Vice Adm. John Wade, the commander of Navy 3rd Fleet and the combined task force commander for RIMPAC, said in a the news 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.”
The release did not state how many days it took to conduct the two SINKEXs. In the case of the former Tarawa, released imagery so far only shows firings happening on Thursday, in contrast to the release stating that the former Tarawa sank on Friday.
Imagery released on DVIDS showed Royal Netherlands Navy frigate HNLMS Tromp (F803) firing a Harpoon anti-ship missile. South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency reported on July 10, citing a Republic of Korea Navy news release, that ROKN submarine ROKS Lee Beom-seok (SS-081) would take part in a SINKEX on July 18 at RIMPAC 2024. The ROKN submarine carries torpedoes and submarine-launched anti-ship missiles. The Royal Malaysian Navy is participating with frigate KD Lekiu (FFGH30), which carries the Exocet anti-ship missile but has not disclosed which SINKEX Lekiu participated in.
Released imagery also shows an AH-64 Apache helicopter attached to 2nd Battalion, 6th Cavalry Squadron, 25th Combat Aviation Brigade, 25th Infantry Division firing a Hellfire missile toward the former Dubuque.
In a separate news release issued Monday, the U.S. Navy said it performed “the successful launching and testing of Poniard rockets from a Common Unmanned Surface Vehicle (CUSV)” during RIMPAC earlier this month. Poniard is a 2.75 inch low-cost guided rocket developed by South Korean defense company LiG Nex1.
During the tests, the U.S. Navy fired several Poniard rockets off the CUSV in what the program executive office for unmanned and small combatants described as 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).”
LiG Nex1 issued its own release on July 15 stating that all six rockets successfully hit their target and that the CUSV was deployed from the ROKN tank landing ship ROKS Cheon Ja Bong (LST-687) for the trial. The ROKN amphibious ship is part of the ROKN task group participating in RIMPAC 2024. LiG Nex1 also said that U.S. Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Lisa Franchetti visited Cheon Ja Bong during the trials and received a briefing on the rocket system. Following the successful trials, the company said it’s now focusing on securing an export contract with the United States.
RIMPAC 2024 also earlier saw firings of surface-to-air missiles with the ROKN disclosing that destroyer ROKS Yulgok Yi I (DDG-992) successfully hit an unmanned aerial target with its SM-2 surface-to-air missile on July 9. Meanwhile, Singapore’s Ministry of Defence issued a news release stating that for the RIMPAC 2024 exercise, frigate RSS Stalwart (72) was leading a four-ship task group. ROKN destroyer ROKS Chungmugong Yi Sun-sin (DDH-975), Mexican Navy frigate ARM Benito Judrez, (POLA-101) and destroyer USS Gridley (DDG-101) are the other ships in the group. During the exercise, Stalwart also successfully fired two Aster surface-to-air missiles to take down two simultaneous inbound missiles, which were simulated by high-speed, sea-skimming aerial drones.
