By Col Michael W. “Starbaby” Pietrucha
Staff Sgts. Dustin Hyden and Doyle Atkinson, 36th Expeditionary Maintenance Squadron, load Mk 62 "Quick Strike" Naval mines onto a B-52 Stratofortress aircraft Sept. 14, 2010, at Andersen Air Force Base, Guam. The mines were loaded as part of a mine laying joint exercise between the Air Force and Navy during Valiant Shield. (U.S. Air Force photo/Staff Sgt. Jamie Powell) [Image: Flickr User - US Air Force] >>
The advent of precision capabilities for the antiship mine is revolutionary.
Last year, the Air Force achieved a little-noticed aviation milestone: the first-ever drop of a winged, precision guided aerial mine. Almost fifty years after Texas Instruments slapped a laser guidance kit on a M117 dumb bomb, the Air Force added a guidance kit to a dumb mine, and greatly expanded the potential for aerial mining. The late arrival of precision capabilities to the antiship mine is no less revolutionary than it was for the advent of precision bombs in the first place, allowing precise placement of mines and improving the survivability of the employing platform. This development has the potential to revitalize aerial mining and add immeasurably to joint countermaritime operations.
Read the full story at The Diplomat