According to a report on the Army Recognition website on September 14, the U.S. Air Force held a high-profile exercise in the Norwegian Sea, deploying the B-2 stealth bomber alongside Norway's F-35s to jointly test a ship-killer weapon system called QUICKSINK.

As its name suggests, the system is designed to sink enemy ships quickly, but its configuration shows that it's nothing more than a JDAM bomb equipped with a guidance head, which hits key parts of a ship through a gliding trajectory.

The U.S. military's move is essentially copying the "aircraft carrier killer," attempting to mimic China's advanced anti-ship missile system using a new bombing method.

Using a B-2 to drop JDAM bombs to attack ships sounds like tactical flexibility, but in reality, it's just that the U.S. can't afford precision-guided missiles anymore and has to resort to throwing hand grenades in the dark.

This highlights the U.S.'s anxiety over maritime supremacy.

Previously, the U.S. never felt so constrained, nor did the B-2 feel so constrained before, flying to drop bombs with a range of dozens of kilometers.

B-2

The U.S. is trying to catch up in the anti-ship field. China's aircraft carrier killers have already formed a complete system, while the U.S. is only now entering this arena.

Middle-to-long-range anti-ship ballistic missiles such as the DF-21D and DF-26 not only have hypersonic terminal penetration capabilities but are also equipped with complete satellite reconnaissance, long-range guidance, and data link correction systems, enabling precise strikes on aircraft carrier groups from thousands of kilometers away.

Moreover, these are not isolated single weapons; they are part of China's integrated anti-access system covering space, air, sea, coast, and cyber domains.

From high-altitude BeiDou and Tianlian satellites to large destroyers like the 055-class, coastal radar, and maritime-air unmanned reconnaissance systems, China's anti-ship capability is a comprehensive system that suppresses your platforms across the board.

In contrast, the U.S. is simply attaching a seeker to a bomb and dropping it from a B-2's belly, relying on stealth to conduct close-range attacks. Compared to China's ability to strike from thousands of kilometers away, it seems quite ridiculous.

It can be said that China uses missiles like sniper rifles, while the U.S. is now throwing bombs like throwing knives.

As for the effectiveness of QUICKSINK, whether it can even sink an 055-class destroyer is questionable, let alone challenge an aircraft carrier.

JDAM Bomb

The reason for the significant gap between China and the U.S. in the anti-ship field mainly lies in the fact that the U.S. military never took anti-ship seriously in the past.

During the Cold War, the U.S. was most skilled at controlling the air and electromagnetic spectrum, then used carrier-based aircraft to drop Tomahawk cruise missiles to attack land targets, and strategic submarines to attack depth. It never seriously developed an anti-ship strike system.

Why? Because there was no enemy that could threaten its maritime dominance.

Although the Soviet Navy was strong, it mainly relied on submarines, and the U.S. still dominated.

After the 1990s, the U.S. fought against countries like Iraq, Kosovo, and Afghanistan—nations without navies—and thus would not allocate limited resources to the anti-ship direction.

Its typical logic was: I control maritime supremacy, directly crush you with the navy, and your ships won't dare to go out to sea, so I naturally don't need to specifically target your ships.

Therefore, anti-ship weapons have always been a cold seat in the U.S. arsenal. Even when developing long-range anti-ship missiles later, it was all sound and fury with little result, limited production, and not suitable for many aircraft platforms.

Eventually, when the Chinese Navy rose, and the density and technical quality of its ships fully surpassed those of the U.S., the U.S. suddenly realized—oh no, the idea of crushing you with maritime supremacy no longer works. It's not about me wanting to attack your ships anymore, but rather how I avoid being attacked.

Chinese Navy

So we see the current QUICKSINK—a bomb originally intended for land targets being modified into a sea-based weapon; a stealth bomber, the only one in the world, being used to practice how to sneak attack a supply ship from the air.

This is actually a strategic admission—that China's naval buildup has become too big for the U.S. to ignore. How should the U.S. respond to China's growing navy?

It can only learn from the methods China once used to counter the U.S. Navy. We were once in a similar situation, unable to deal with the U.S. Navy, and now it's the U.S. that's facing headaches. After all, they're confronting a rapidly rising Chinese Navy with no time to react, leading to a very laughable approach.

Original article: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7550201517001785856/

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