On September 3, 2025, the icy waters off Norway’s northern coast witnessed a display of military might that has rippled far beyond the Arctic Circle. In a closely coordinated operation, a U.S. Air Force B-2 Spirit bomber unleashed a powerful new weapon—aptly named "Quicksink"—on a floating target near Andøya, Norway, just 590 kilometers from the Russian border. The event, carried out in concert with the Royal Norwegian Air Force and under the watchful eyes of NATO, was not just another weapons test. It was a message, and the world’s attention was firmly fixed on the message’s intended recipients.
The B-2 bomber, one of just 19 in the U.S. arsenal and based at Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri, dropped a 2,000-pound-class GBU-31 Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) that had been specially modified for anti-ship operations. According to the Air Force Research Lab, the Quicksink munition is designed to offer a "low-cost" but devastatingly effective means of neutralizing enemy vessels with a single, precise strike. The test, which was not publicly announced until a week later, was observed by four Royal Norwegian Air Force F-35 Lightning IIs and a P-8 Poseidon, underscoring the multinational nature of the exercise (Task & Purpose).
"Quicksink offers an affordable, game-changing solution to rapidly and efficiently sink maritime targets," Col. Dan Lehoski, commander of the 53rd Wing, stated in a release earlier this year. He added, "AFRL’s 500-pound Quicksink variant adds options for the warfighter and enhances operational flexibility." The 500-pound version, introduced earlier in 2025, is intended to expand the Air Force’s ability to target enemy ships with even more flexibility, providing a scalable threat to adversaries at sea (Task & Purpose).
This was not the first time the Quicksink bomb has been put to the test. During the massive Rim of the Pacific exercise in 2022, the Air Force demonstrated the weapon’s potential by splitting a cargo ship in two, sending it quickly to the ocean floor. Two years later, the 2,000-pound variant was again dropped from a B-2, reaffirming the bomb’s destructive capability. But this latest test, so close to Russian territorial waters and timed just days before the start of Russia’s own massive military exercise, Sapad, has given the event a sharper edge (Task & Purpose; Merkur).
According to Newsweek and The War Zone, the September 3 test was conducted as part of a NATO naval exercise. The Quicksink bombs used—GBU-31 (2,000 pounds) and GBU-38 (500 pounds)—are guided by a combination of GPS and inertial navigation systems (INS), a technological leap from the unguided free-fall bombs of previous generations. The JDAM family, developed in the 1990s by the U.S. Air Force and Navy, was designed to increase the accuracy of American munitions, replacing unreliable older models with precision-guided firepower (Merkur).
The timing of the Quicksink test was, by all accounts, no accident. Just nine days later, on September 12, Russian President Vladimir Putin launched the Sapad military exercise in Belarus, involving an estimated 13,000 soldiers deployed in Belarus and another 30,000 on Russian soil. The very name Sapad translates to "West," a pointed nod to its intended audience. NATO officials have been on high alert in recent months, particularly after a series of Russian drone incursions over Poland and other tense encounters along the alliance’s eastern flank. The Quicksink test, then, can be seen as a clear signal of resolve and technological superiority (Merkur).
The B-2’s journey to Norway was itself a feat of endurance and stealth. The long-range bomber, known for its distinctive flying wing design and radar-evading capabilities, departed from Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri. Its presence in the Arctic is part of a broader pattern of assertive U.S. military activity. In the past year, B-2s from the 53rd Wing have struck Houthi targets in Yemen, forward deployed to Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean, and participated in Operation Midnight Hammer against Iranian nuclear facilities in June 2025—an action ordered during President Donald Trump’s administration (Task & Purpose; Merkur).
President Trump’s foreign policy has often leaned on demonstrations of military strength, and the B-2’s use against Iran’s nuclear sites earlier this summer was a stark reminder of the bomber’s global reach. The Quicksink test in Norway, while not a direct attack, fits neatly into this pattern of calculated shows of force. With tensions high and diplomatic channels often fraught, the U.S. appears determined to keep its deterrent capabilities front and center, particularly as Russia flexes its own military muscle (Merkur).
The regional context cannot be ignored. NATO has been stepping up its own exercises, most recently with "Quadriga 2025" in the Baltic Sea region, led by the German Bundeswehr and explicitly intended as a deterrent to Russian aggression. The alliance’s maneuvers, coupled with the U.S. Air Force’s high-profile weapons tests, are part of a broader effort to reassure member states and send a message to Moscow: NATO remains vigilant and prepared (Merkur).
For Norway, the exercise was a powerful demonstration of allied solidarity. The country, which shares a long Arctic border with Russia, has been increasingly concerned about regional security in the wake of Moscow’s actions in Ukraine and its saber-rattling elsewhere. The joint operation with the U.S. Air Force and the deployment of cutting-edge technology like Quicksink serve as both a deterrent and a reassurance to Norwegian defense planners.
There are, of course, unanswered questions. Was the Quicksink test meant as a direct response to Russia’s Sapad exercise? Or was it simply the latest step in a long-term strategy to modernize and display U.S. military capabilities? Officials have declined to draw a direct connection, but the proximity in time and space is hard to dismiss. As one observer noted, such exercises are rarely coincidental in the world of international security (Merkur).
What is clear is that the Quicksink program is rapidly maturing. Its ability to deliver a precision strike on enemy ships at a fraction of the cost of traditional anti-ship missiles could alter the balance of naval power, particularly in contested regions like the Arctic or the South China Sea. And with the B-2’s global reach, nowhere is truly out of range.
As the world watches the interplay of military exercises and technological one-upmanship, the events off Norway’s coast are a reminder that deterrence is as much about perception as it is about firepower. The Arctic, once seen as a remote and peaceful expanse, is now firmly on the front lines of great power competition. And, as recent weeks have shown, the stakes are only getting higher.