US Rehearses Bomb Strikes Near Russian Border In The Arctic
- 11.09.2025, 22:43
A B-2 bomber practiced dropping precision bombs in the Norwegian Sea.
A U.S. B-2 strategic bomber tested anti-ship weapons in northern Norway, just a few hundred kilometers from the Russian border in the Arctic. As Newsweek writes, the plane practiced dropping precision-guided bombs in the Norwegian Sea off the island of Annøya on Sept. 3. The exercise took place simultaneously with the operation of the naval group of the United States and its NATO allies in the Barents Sea, where, as the publication notes, the movements of the alliance's ships were monitored by the Russian military.
According to the U.S. Air Force, the B-2 used modified QUICKSINK guided munitions designed to hit surface targets. Two types of weapons were used for testing - the 500-pound GBU-38 bomb and the 2,000-pound GBU-31. The new system is equipped with a homing head, allowing it to engage both stationary and moving naval targets. The U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory said QUICKSINK provides a "low-cost capability to destroy ships from the air," creating an effect comparable to the use of torpedoes, but with greater speed and over wider areas.
The Norwegian military deployed four F-35 fighter jets and a P-8 patrol plane for the operation, and released photos of the test. One of the photos, taken from a submarine, captured the moment the munition hit its target - a surface ship. The publication The War Zone specified that the dropped bomb was a GBU-31 variant.
As Newsweek notes, the maneuver was part of the buildup of U.S. capabilities to counter maritime threats from Russia and China, the owner of the world's largest fleet by number of ships. The publication also points out that the U.S. is actively developing programs to create new anti-ship missiles and upgraded bombs like QUICKSINK.
The test in Norway was the third for this type of weapon on the B-2: previously, a 2,000-pound version of the bomb was used during a naval exercise in Hawaii in July 2024, and a 500-pound version in Florida. The U.S. Air Force said the mission not only confirmed the effectiveness of the munitions, but also demonstrated the key advantages of the bomber itself - stealth, range and weapons flexibility.