AFRL technology makes new weapon for sinking ships reality

The Air Force Research Laboratory and Eglin Air Force Base's Integrated Test Team demonstrated a new low-cost, air-delivered capability for defeating maritime threats April 28, that successfully destroyed a full-scale surface vessel in the Gulf of Mexico.

An F-15E Strike Eagle released one modified GBU-31 Joint Direct Attack Munition, or JDAM, as part of this test, the second experiment in the QUICKSINK Joint Capability Technology Demonstration, or JCTD, funded by the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering. The test succeeded through a collaborative effort with AFRL, the 780th Test Squadron of the 96th Test Wing, and the 85th Test and Evaluation Squadron of the 53rd Wing.

"QUICKSINK is an answer to an urgent need to neutralize maritime threats to freedom around the world," said Col. Tony Meeks, director of AFRL's Munitions Directorate. "The men and women of this directorate consistently find ways to solve our nation's greatest challenges."

AFRL scientists and engineers are developing a weapon open systems architecture, or WOSA, seeker to enable precise placement of the weapon. The implementation of WOSA also lowers costs by providing modularity via the ability to plug-and-play different manufacturers' seeker components, which can lead to reduced weapon system costs and enhanced performance.

The Air Force Research Laboratory partnered with the 780th Test Squadron of the 96th Test Wing and the 85th Test and Evaluation Squadron of the 53rd Wing to equip an F-15E Strike Eagle at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla. with modified 2,000-pound GBU-31 Joint Direct Attack Munitions as part of the second test in the QUICKSINK Joint Capability Technology Demonstration. QUICKSINK, a new low-cost, air-delivered capability for defeating maritime threats, successfully destroyed a full-scale surface vessel April 28, 2022, as part of a demonstration in the Gulf of Mexico. (U.S. Air Force photo / 1st Lt Lindsey Heflin) — The Air Force Research Laboratory partnered with the 780th Test Squadron of the 96th Test Wing and the 85th Test and Evaluation Squadron of the 53rd Wing to equip an F-15E Strike Eagle at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla. with modified 2,000-pound GBU-31 Joint Direct Attack Munitions as part of the second test in the QUICKSINK Joint Capability Technology Demonstration. QUICKSINK, a new low-cost, air-delivered capability for defeating maritime threats, successfully destroyed a full-scale surface vessel April 28, 2022, as part of a demonstration in the Gulf of Mexico. (U.S. Air Force photo by 1st Lt. Lindsey Heflin)

$(document).ready(function () { let isDesktopInit = false; let detailSize = "full"; let displayhgt = "95vh"; let $this = $('[data-fancybox]').fancybox($.extend(true, {}, $.fancybox.defaults, { buttons: ['share'], caption: function (instance, item) { var caption = ''; if (item.type === 'image') { if (isMobile()) { caption += '

' + '

' + $(this).find('figcaption').html() + getDetailsURL($(this).parent()) + getDownloadURL($(this).parent()) + showFBShare() + '

' + '

SHOW PHOTO DETAILS

'; } else { caption += $(this).find('figcaption').html() + getDetailsURL($(this).parent()) + getDownloadURL($(this).parent()) + showFBShare(); } } return caption; }, afterLoad: function (instance, current) { //initial desktop view if (isMobile()) $(".fancybox-caption__body").addClass("mobile"); }, afterShow: function (instance, current) { var $currentSlide = $(".fancybox-slide.fancybox-slide--current.fancybox-slide--image").parent().parent(); if (isMobile()) $currentSlide.find(".fancy-detail-link").on("touchstart", function() { captionToggle(); }); }, afterClose: function () { } })); let debounceTimer; $(window).on("resize", function (event) { if (isMobile()) return; if ($(".af3-caption-body").length > 0 && $(".af3-caption-body").css("height") != undefined) { event.stopImmediatePropagation(); $(".fancybox-caption__body").removeClass("half"); isDesktopInit = false; captionToggle(); debounceTimer = setTimeout(function () { clearTimeout(debounceTimer); debounceTimer = null; recalculateImageSize(); }, 1000); } }); function recalculateImageSize() { // Fancy box miscalculates because of race conditions with new layout var origImgWth = $(".fancybox-image").prop("naturalWidth"); var origImgHgt = $(".fancybox-image").prop("naturalHeight"); var winWth = $(window).innerWidth(); var winHgt = $(window).innerHeight() var ratio = Math.min(winWth / origImgWth, winHgt / origImgHgt); var newImgWth = (origImgWth * ratio); var newImgHgt = (origImgHgt * ratio); var dstTop = Math.floor((winHgt - newImgHgt)) / 2; var dstLeft = Math.floor((winWth - newImgWth)) / 2; $(".fancybox-content").removeAttr("style"); $(".fancybox-content").css("width", newImgWth + "px"); $(".fancybox-content").css("height", newImgHgt + "px"); $(".fancybox-content").css("transform", "translate(" + dstLeft + "px, " + dstTop + "px)"); } function captionToggle() { if ($(".fancybox-caption__body").hasClass("af3-caption-body")) { $(".af3-caption-body").stop(true, false).animate({ height: "0vh" }, 800, function () { // Animation complete. closeDetails(); }); $(".fancy-photo-detail-link").html($(".fancy-photo-detail-link").html().replace("CLOSE", "SHOW")); } else { $(".fancybox-caption__body").addClass("af3-caption-body"); $(".af3-caption-body").addClass(detailSize); $(".af3-caption-body").animate({ height: displayhgt }, 800); $(".fancybox-caption").addClass("af3-caption-bg"); $(".base-caption-info").addClass("full-height"); $(".fancy-photo-detail-link").addClass("photo-detail-gradient"); $(".fancybox-button").css("display", "none"); $(".fancy-photo-detail-link").html($(".fancy-photo-detail-link").html().replace("SHOW", "CLOSE")); $(".fancybox-caption__body").prepend(prependClosing()); $(".closing-box, .closingx").on("touchstart", function() { captionToggle(); }); } } function getDetailsURL(fbObj) { return 'DETAILS'; } function getDownloadURL(fbObj) { return 'DOWNLOAD'; } function showFBShare() { return ''; } function closeDetails() { $(".af3-caption-body").removeClass(detailSize); $(".fancybox-caption__body").removeClass("af3-caption-body"); $(".fancybox-caption").removeClass("af3-caption-bg"); $(".base-caption-info").removeClass("full-height"); $(".fancy-photo-detail-link").removeClass("photo-detail-gradient"); $(".fancybox-button").css("display", "block"); if (detailSize === "half") { detailSize = "full"; displayhgt = "90vh"; $(".fancybox-caption").removeClass("desktop-init"); } } function prependClosing() { return '

' } function isMobile() { var isMobile = false; //initiate as false // device detection if (/(android|bbd+|meego).+mobile|avantgo|bada/|blackberry|blazer|compal|elaine|fennec|hiptop|iemobile|ip(hone|od)|ipad|iris|kindle|Android|Silk|lge |maemo|midp|mmp|netfront|opera m(ob|in)i|palm( os)?|phone|p(ixi|re)/|plucker|pocket|psp|series(4|6)0|symbian|treo|up.(browser|link)|vodafone|wap|windows (ce|phone)|xda|xiino/i.test(navigator.userAgent) || /1207|6310|6590|3gso|4thp|50[1-6]i|770s|802s|a wa|abac|ac(er|oo|s-)|ai(ko|rn)|al(av|ca|co)|amoi|an(ex|ny|yw)|aptu|ar(ch|go)|as(te|us)|attw|au(di|-m|r |s )|avan|be(ck|ll|nq)|bi(lb|rd)|bl(ac|az)|br(e|v)w|bumb|bw-(n|u)|c55/|capi|ccwa|cdm-|cell|chtm|cldc|cmd-|co(mp|nd)|craw|da(it|ll|ng)|dbte|dc-s|devi|dica|dmob|do(c|p)o|ds(12|-d)|el(49|ai)|em(l2|ul)|er(ic|k0)|esl8|ez([4-7]0|os|wa|ze)|fetc|fly(-|_)|g1 u|g560|gene|gf-5|g-mo|go(.w|od)|gr(ad|un)|haie|hcit|hd-(m|p|t)|hei-|hi(pt|ta)|hp( i|ip)|hs-c|ht(c(-| |_|a|g|p|s|t)|tp)|hu(aw|tc)|i-(20|go|ma)|i230|iac( |-|/)|ibro|idea|ig01|ikom|im1k|inno|ipaq|iris|ja(t|v)a|jbro|jemu|jigs|kddi|keji|kgt( |/)|klon|kpt |kwc-|kyo(c|k)|le(no|xi)|lg( g|/(k|l|u)|50|54|-[a-w])|libw|lynx|m1-w|m3ga|m50/|ma(te|ui|xo)|mc(01|21|ca)|m-cr|me(rc|ri)|mi(o8|oa|ts)|mmef|mo(01|02|bi|de|do|t(-| |o|v)|zz)|mt(50|p1|v )|mwbp|mywa|n10[0-2]|n20[2-3]|n30(0|2)|n50(0|2|5)|n7(0(0|1)|10)|ne((c|m)-|on|tf|wf|wg|wt)|nok(6|i)|nzph|o2im|op(ti|wv)|oran|owg1|p800|pan(a|d|t)|pdxg|pg(13|-([1-8]|c))|phil|pire|pl(ay|uc)|pn-2|po(ck|rt|se)|prox|psio|pt-g|qa-a|qc(07|12|21|32|60|-[2-7]|i-)|qtek|r380|r600|raks|rim9|ro(ve|zo)|s55/|sa(ge|ma|mm|ms|ny|va)|sc(01|h-|oo|p-)|sdk/|se(c(-|0|1)|47|mc|nd|ri)|sgh-|shar|sie(-|m)|sk-0|sl(45|id)|sm(al|ar|b3|it|t5)|so(ft|ny)|sp(01|h-|v-|v )|sy(01|mb)|t2(18|50)|t6(00|10|18)|ta(gt|lk)|tcl-|tdg-|tel(i|m)|tim-|t-mo|to(pl|sh)|ts(70|m-|m3|m5)|tx-9|up(.b|g1|si)|utst|v400|v750|veri|vi(rg|te)|vk(40|5[0-3]|-v)|vm40|voda|vulc|vx(52|53|60|61|70|80|81|83|85|98)|w3c(-| )|webc|whit|wi(g |nc|nw)|wmlb|wonu|x700|yas-|your|zeto|zte-/i.test(navigator.userAgent.substr(0, 4))) { isMobile = true; } return isMobile; } });

/U.S. Air Force Release. This material from the originating organization/author(s) might be of the point-in-time nature, and edited for clarity, style and length. Mirage.News does not take institutional positions or sides, and all views, positions, and conclusions expressed herein are solely those of the author(s).View in full here.

You might also like