During the ongoing RIMPAC 2024 exercise, the U.S. military sank a carrier-sized ship with a single, inexpensive guided bomb. The specially modified bomb was dropped from a state-of-the-art B-2 Spirit bomber. The exercise was closely watched, especially by Beijing. Chinese government media said it “evidenced the concerns of the U.S. and its allies about the growth and strength of China’s naval power.”
From late June to early August, the U.S. Air Force's Rim of the Pacific 2024 (RIMPAC) exercise is underway near Hawaii. It's a large, annual exercise that this year involves soldiers from a total of 29 countries. As the U.S. military said in a statement, one of the capabilities being practiced was destroying large surface ships using long-range weapons.
They sank a ship the size of an aircraft carrier
As reported by the US media over the weekend, a particularly “important exercise” was conducted on July 19. During the exercise, the decommissioned USS Tarawa, a 250-meter-long, 39,000-ton landing ship, was used as a target. This vessel, formerly designed to transport soldiers and dozens of helicopters and planes, was comparable in size to some aircraft carriers, such as the French Charles de Gaulle, or slightly smaller than the Chinese aircraft carrier Liaoning.
The former USS Tarawa was sunk during an exercise by a single, inexpensive guided bomb dropped from a B-2 Spirit strategic bomber. This is the first time that this most advanced American bomber, difficult to detect and with almost unlimited range, has taken part in such an exercise. The weapon used is a regular, unguided aerial bomb with an additional JDAM kit, making it a satellite-guided bomb and modified to attack ships. Such a bomb has been called “QUICKSINK” by the US Navy.
Landing ship USS Tarawadvidshub – Petty Officer 2nd Class Jonathan Husman
According to the US Air Force, the B-2 Spirit bomber has a unique ability to stealthily penetrate heavily defended areas. Equipping it with cheap and highly effective bombs with warheads weighing up to 900 kilograms is supposed to give it “anti-ship lethality” comparable to submarines, but without the weaknesses characteristic of submarines. While submarines are also able to sink even the largest ships with a single torpedo, after firing it they give away their position and become a target themselves. The B-2, meanwhile, is not only able to carry out such an attack from a greater distance, but also loses track more easily and moves away more quickly.
“This capability addresses the urgent need to rapidly neutralize maritime threats across vast swaths of ocean around the world at minimal cost,” the U.S. Navy's 3rd Fleet, which led the exercise, said in a press release.
RIMPAC 2024 exercise. USS Tarawa (right) escorted from Pearl Harbor to the sinking siteUS Navy/Courtney Strahan/navy.mil
China responds to RIMPAC 2024
The RIMPAC 2024 exercises are being watched particularly closely by China, which used to participate in them when Beijing's relations with Washington were less tense. As the Chinese government tabloid Global Times noted before the sinking of the USS Tarawa, “the only country designated by the US as 'enemy' that has 40,000-ton landing ships in the Asia-Pacific region is China.” The Chinese currently have three 36,000-ton Type 075s in service and a fourth nearly ready, and new, larger Type 076 landing ships are also under construction.
“The selection of the USS Tarawa as a target for sinking reflects the concerns of the United States and its allies about the growth and strength of China's naval power, especially its ability to provide military deterrence off Taiwan,” said Song Zhongping, a military expert, quoted by the Global Times. The newspaper stressed that the former American ship, commissioned in the 1970s, cannot be compared to modern Chinese ships equipped with modern weapons and defense systems.
B-2 Spirit Bomber
The B-2A Spirit is an American strategic bomber created by Northrop. It is a machine constructed using stealth techniques, i.e. making it difficult to detect by radar. This includes the use of materials that absorb radar waves and the shape of the structure. The plane is built in a flying wing configuration, so it has no tail, no separate fuselage and tail. The machine maintains stability in the air only thanks to computers that constantly correct the flight path.
The B-2 can carry more than 22 tons of bombs or missiles in two bomb bays. These can be both nuclear and conventional weapons. The bomber's range is about 11 thousand kilometers, but thanks to the possibility of air refueling, it is practically unlimited. United States they have only 20 such machines.
B-2 Spirit BomberShutterstock
Main image source: dvidshub – Petty Officer 2nd Class Jonathan Husman