Quickstrike mines. In early June 2018,
two B-1Bs took of from Dyess AFB, Texas,
and lew to the Baltic Sea, dropping inert
Mk62s as part of NATO’s annual ‘BALTOPS’
exercises. ‘Dropping naval mines gives
the B-1 a lot of operational capability to
complete the aircraft’s mission,’ said Lancer
pilot ‘Hojo’ of the 345th Expeditionary
Bomb Squadron. ‘It can quickly deliver
large quantities of precision and non-
precision weapons against any adversary,
anywhere in the world, at any time.’
The B-52 Stratofortress fares well, too.
It is able to carry 45 Mk62 mines each.
The Quickstrike series of mines are in
fact converted bombs — the Pentagon
has also developed 2,000lb Quickstrike-J
‘Skipjacks’ and winged, 500lb Quickstrike-
ER ‘Flounders’ with GPS navigation kits.
The Quickstrikes are older, dating back to
the 1980s, and are designed for shallower
waters. The Quickstrike-ER’s retarding tail
ins help it slow down when approaching
the water. Several programs to create
more modern air-dropped mines have
izzled out.
Nevertheless, the existing aerial mines
allow bombers to approach defended
channels and booby-trap them from
longer distances and at medium and highaltitudes. Unlike the Intruders, which
had to ly low, a heavy bomber such
as the B-1B can launch a Quickstrike-
ER from miles away while targeting a
speciic location outside a harbor, in a
channel or strait. Because these mines
travel with precision-guidance systems, a
bomber does not have to make multiple
passes at diferent angles to create a
hazardous mineield — that can all be
pre-programmed at a distance.
Once under waves, the mines detect
ships passing above via either the ship’s
vibration, magnetic ield or changes
in pressure. On September 23, 2014, a
B-52H lying near Guam released the
irst Quickstrike-ER, which traveled 40
miles with the help of its ins. A year
later, two B-52Hs from Minot AFB in
North Dakota dropped 18 inert mines
of the Swedish coast while resisting a
simulated amphibious invasion. This kind
of defensive mining, laid by bombers
scrambled quickly after the irst wave of
enemy troops hit the beach, can place
lethal obstacles in the path of follow-on
waves of troops who are necessary to
sustain the operation.
‘With very little strategic warning
and some timely intelligence, it should
be possible to emplace a defensive
mineield to impede the establishment
of a beachhead,’ USAF Col Mike Pietrucha,
an advocate for aerial mining, wrote
for Air & Space Power Journal in 2015.
‘In reality, one cannot count on timely
intelligence and strategic warning, and
the irst wave of any amphibious assault
will probably make it ashore. In this
case, the applicability of a modern aerial
mineield becomes apparent.’
The Stratofortress can also ire Harpoon
anti-ship missiles, making it an efective,
long-haul ship killer. The obvious
implication is that the lumbering B-52s
— which will see service into the 2040s if
not beyond — will take on a more naval-
oriented role as they will not survive
in a modern air defense environment
suited for stealthy F-35 Lightning IIs and
B-21 Raider bombers. These same B-52s
could carry long-range AGM-158 (Joint
Air-to-Surface Stand-of Missiles (JASSMs)
— cruise missiles — to target ports, or
the JASSM’s anti-ship version currently in
development.
With more practice, this kind of warfare
would be an interesting shift for the
60-year-old bombers. In any case, it
is safer than the low-lying airborne
mining runs of Iraq during the Persian
Gulf War.Above: A US Navy
A-6E Intruder, like
the one flown by
LTs Costen and
Turner during
‘Desert Storm’.
US Navy/PH1(AW)
M. K. Miller
Above left:
An S-3A Viking
aboard the
USS Dwight D.
Eisenhower (CVN
69) carrying a
Mk52 mine.
US Navyhttp://www.combataircraft.net // October 2018 61