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

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. 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. 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. 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." "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 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. "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.