Boeing to make Quickstrike glide kits
A USAF B-52H Stratofortress conducts an operational demonstration of the QS-ER naval mine over the Pacific Ocean in May 2019. (Photo: USN/ Mass Communications Specialist 1st Class Holly Herline)
USN orders glide kit equipment from Boeing for the extended-range variant of the Quickstrike sea mine.
Boeing is to design and produce glide kits and associated equipment for the Quickstrike Extended Range (QS-ER) aircraft-launched sea mine.
The company will provide the USN with non-functional glide kits, glide kit prototype articles, and glide kit shipping containers for QS-ER, the DoD announced on 20 July.
Work on the $58.3 million contract is scheduled for completion by March 2024.
QS mines are general-purpose bombs retrofitted with Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) guidance kits plus magnetic, seismic and acoustic sensors. Aircraft drop the mines to settle on the sea floor at depths of 12-61m.
The QS-ER variant for the USN includes a glide kit that enables the mine to be launched from standoff distances of up to 40nm at 35,000ft.
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