Defense

Air Force tests out guided bomb to take out ships

By Mike Brest
Published September 13, 2021 3:33pm ET
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Air Force tests out guided bomb to take out ships
This image provided by the U.S. Air Force shows Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Welsh, right, and Tech. Sgt. Justin Richie, a 341st Maintenance Operations Squadron team trainer, riding in a work cage on Nov. 20, 2012, inside the T-9 maintenance trainer at Malmstrom Air Force Base, Mont. The Air Force says 34 nuclear missile launch officers at Malmstrom Air Force Base in Montana have been implicated in a cheating scandal and have been stripped of their certification. It is believed to be the largest such breach of integrity in the nuclear force.(AP Photo/U.S. Air Force, Beau Wade) | Beau Wade

With all eyes on the U.S. military’s Afghanistan evacuation late last month, the Air Force conducted a completely separate test run to improve its defense capabilities.

On Aug. 26, the Air Force Research Laboratory demonstrated the GBU-31 Joint Direct Attack Munition, a guided bomb that could in practice sink an opposing ship. Three F-15E Strike Eagle fighters were armed with dummy versions of the weapon and tried out various ways to deploy it over the Gulf of Mexico.

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Air Force