Video: U.S. Air Force Tests AC-130 Gunship Against U.S. Navy Amphib

The U.S. Air Force has released dramatic footage of a gunship opening fire on a decommissioned U.S. Navy amphib during the 2024 Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) exercise last month. It is the first imagery to emerge from the two sinking exercises that U.S. and allied forces carried out during the drills. 

During RIMPAC, the U.S. military allocated two decommissioned amphibious assault vessels as targets for weapons training. The USS Dubuque was sunk on July 11, followed by the larger flat-deck USS Tarawa on July 19. Tarawa happens to be close in size to China's Type 075 amphib, a key target in any future Taiwan Strait conflict, and the similarity prompted a rebuke from Beijing. 

A SINKEX is designed to give multiple partners the opportunity to train with live weaponry against a real naval target, and the U.S. Navy said that the amphibs were selected because they would withstand multiple hits. "It gives us an opportunity to have a hulk that will last for hopefully a long amount of time, so we can get all of our drills through and successfully executed," Vice Adm. John Wade told Stripes.

The U.S. Air Force had an outsize role in this year's event: it dropped at least one inexpensive but devastating "Quicksink" guided bomb from a stealthy B-2 strategic bomber, causing unspecified damage to Tarawa. The Quicksink is an antiship guidance kit fitted to a 2,000-pound smart bomb, and a previous test on a small merchant vessel broke the ship's keel and sent it under in less than 40 seconds (below).

Quicksink is designed to drop next to the vessel and detonate underneath the hull, delivering an explosive charge that is about 50 percent larger than a Mark 84 heavyweight torpedo's warhead. Imagery of the bomb's effect on Tarawa has not been released, but the U.S. Navy said that Quicksink contributed to the amphib's sinking. 

Separately, a new video released by Cannon Air Force Base - home of the 27th Special Operations Wing - shows that the Air Force also tested out an AC-130J gunship's armament on USS Dubuque. The AC-130J is a modified variant of the C-130 cargo plane, with extended range, advanced electronics, a 105mm howitzer in a recoil carriage and a 30mm chain gun. The footage shows gun tests targeting the helipad and wheelhouse of Dubuque, with limited effects. 

The Air Force previously carried out a test of the AC-130J against wooden fishing boats off the Philippines in May, with more substantial results. In that joint exercise, organizers used several outrigger fishing boats of a traditional Philippine design (bangka boats). The AC-130J's ordnance - designed for destroying hardened targets on shore - functioned as intended. 

Watch an AC-130J Ghostrider gunship aircraft of the #USAF's 27th SOW hunting boats during exercise #Balikatan2024 of the Philippines Armed Forces. Soon or late, these AC-130Js can hunt Chinese Coast Guard vessels during any possible maritime conflict with #China. pic.twitter.com/yYZiTZ1v4B

— Babak Taghvaee - The Crisis Watch (@BabakTaghvaee1) May 2, 2024