A new experimental US Air Force bomb can sink warships, but the question is if it's the right weapon for a war with China

• The US military recently tested its experimental QUICKSINK weapon that's designed to sink warships.
• The munition gives the US Air Force more strike options in the maritime domain.

A US Air Force B-2 Spirit stealth bomber recently used a new anti-ship weapon to sink a decommissioned warship in the Pacific and a cargo ship off the coast of Florida.

The US military hails this experimental weapon, called QUICKSINK, as a low-cost way to defeat surface vessels that gives American forces more strike options in the maritime domain.

However, in a potential future clash between the US and China in the Pacific, this weapon may not be the ideal munition to take on Beijing's growing fleet of increasingly modern and capable surface combatants.

The weapon isn't standoff and can't be launched from great distances, which would potentially make the American bombers dropping it vulnerable to enemy sea- and land-based air defenses.

A low-cost strike option

The Air Force has long lacked sufficient anti-ship capabilities due to its focus on land-attack missions, and experts say the QUICKSINK program underscores the service's intention to enter the sea-denial space.

This experimental weapon was first tested a few years ago and most recently in a pair of tests in July, one during a series of live-fire drills off the coast of Hawaii last month and another in the Gulf of Mexico. The weapon's development comes amid a broader, military-wide effort to pursue anti-ship capabilities.

QUICKSINK pairs existing Joint Direct Attack Munition guidance kits with new seeker technology that allows the weapon to target stationary and moving targets — like ships — with precision. According to the Air Force Research Laboratory, the goal is to replicate the combat potential of a submarine with an aircraft that can cover a much larger area.

QUICKSINK undoubtedly gives the US military more strike options in the maritime domain at a lower cost, and the new bomb's development appears to address the military's growing concerns about China's substantial and increasingly capable naval forces. If Washington and Beijing were to ever go to war, anti-ship capabilities would probably play a critical role.

Before QUICKSINK, Chinese forces at sea would mainly have to worry about the threat of a nearby aircraft carrier, surface combatant, or submarine, Bryan Clark, a former US Navy officer and defense expert at the Hudson Institute, told Business Insider. Now, Beijing has to think about the possibility of being attacked by US bombers, too.

Even if there aren't any "naval forces around," he said, the Chinese navy "might still be under threat from Air Force bombers that can essentially range globally."

But there are risks. In a conflict, experts say that QUICKSINK — and the aircraft launching it — would still be vulnerable to defeat. That's because China maintains a significant air-defense network along its coastal areas, and has modern destroyers and cruisers with sophisticated surface-to-air missile systems that could extend this shield.

"QUICKSINK is a short-range, 'direct attack' weapon, which means their launching aircraft must release them in fairly close proximity to their designated targets," Mark Gunzinger, a retired Air Force colonel who flew the B-52 Stratofortress, told BI.

That proximity "can significantly increase risk to fighters and bombers — even stealthy aircraft — that use them to attack targets equipped with modern air defenses, such as [People's Liberation Army] surface action groups, or amphibious ships operating in areas that are covered by highly capable integrated air-defense systems," he said.

QUICKSINK reportedly has a range of around 15 miles, and experts say it lacks the maneuverability and survivability features necessary to evade Chinese air defenses, though an intercept may still be challenging given the nature of the weapon. A bigger potential problem is that at that range, air defenses could easily target a US bomber, creating an incredibly unideal situation for American pilots.

Building up anti-ship capabilities

There are still situations where QUICKSINK could be quite effective. For instance, out in the open ocean, a US bomber could target a small Chinese surface action group with limited air defenses that could be overwhelmed and neutralized, Clark said. Less protected supply and support ships could also be potential targets for the weapon.

"It's an important tool in the toolkit," Clark said, explaining that it makes sense for the Air Force to pursue the capability since it's an inexpensive adaptation of an existing weapon and there are not any additional costs needed to buy or modify aircraft.

The weapon "seems like a pretty low-cost way to create another avenue of threat for Chinese naval forces to consider," he said.

QUICKSINK is not the only initiative indicative of the Air Force's desire to increase its maritime strike capabilities.

Gunzinger, the director of future concepts and capability assessments at the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies, said the Air Force is also trying to acquire as many of the Long-Range Anti-Ship Missile, or LRASM, as possible.

The Navy says that the LRASM is a "precise, stealthy, and survivable cruise missile" capable of offensive anti-surface warfare. This particular missile is the ideal air-launched weapon for maritime warfare, but it's rather costly at over $3 million a piece.

The Air Force remains interested in developing more affordable munitions for maritime strikes. And while QUICKSINK fits some of the criteria, it ultimately lacks some of the characteristics that would otherwise make it a front-running weapon of choice in battle.

"QUICKSINK could be another arrow in the Air Force's quiver of anti-ship munitions," Gunzinger said. "But it is unlikely to become its mainstay weapon for maritime strikes in contested operational environments."