British and American North Atlantic sinking exercises: Clark Lin was hit and sunk by B-6 missiles and torpedoes

The frigate "Cracklin" served as a target ship and sank after being hit hard by multiple weapons. (Taken from the U.S. Navy official website)

[Reporter Tu Jumin/Comprehensive Report] Britain and the United States recently jointly held the "Atlantic Thunder 2026" multi-domain sinking (SINKEX) exercise in the North Atlantic, using the decommissioned US Perry-class frigate "Clarklin" as a target ship, mobilizing surface ships, submarines, fighter jets and patrol aircraft to take turns firing. It is worth noting that the US military not only used "Standard Six" (SM-6) missiles to carry out over-the-horizon anti-ship strikes, but also finally launched a Mk 48 heavy-duty torpedo from the nuclear-powered attack submarine "Massachusetts" to send the target ship to the bottom of the sea.

The U.S. Sixth Fleet stated that the sinking exercise was held in the North Atlantic on September 25. The 65th, 67th, 68th, 69th, and 1060th Task Forces of the U.S. Army conducted joint exercises with the British Royal Navy and the U.S. Air Force to verify joint detection, visual acquisition and live ammunition firing capabilities of surface targets.

Among them, the missile destroyer USS Paul Ignatius of the U.S. Navy launched the No. 6 missile to verify the maximum lethality and range of this type of missile. This type of missile is originally known for anti-aircraft and anti-missile missions, but it also has anti-ship capabilities, allowing Aegis ships to attack large surface ships at longer distances.

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Standard Type VI missiles are mainly used for anti-aircraft and anti-missile missiles, but they can also be used as anti-ship missiles. (Taken from the U.S. Navy official website)

After the target ship withstood multiple waves of attacks, it was finally hit and sunk by the Mk 48 heavy torpedo launched by the nuclear submarine USS Massachusetts. The Mk 48 is the main submarine-launched heavy-duty torpedo of the US military. It can attack submarines and large surface ships. This time it once again demonstrated its lethal destructive power against large ships. The Chinese Navy has also purchased this type of torpedo from the United States for use by the Stegosaurus-class submarines and the Haikun-class submarines under testing.

The British Royal Navy also dispatched the frigate HMS Portland to verify the latest Naval Strike Missile (NSM) and Sea Venom missiles; US and British P-8 anti-submarine aircraft, British Wildcat helicopters, and US Air Force F-15E Strike Eagle fighter jets also participated in the exercise.

The sunk frigate "USS Clarklin" joined the U.S. Navy in 1983 and was decommissioned in 2013. It is a member of the Perry-class frigate family. There are still two ships of the same class in the Chinese Navy, mainly used for anti-submarine warfare. The US military stated that before the exercise, sensors were deployed on the target ships to collect battle damage data, and the actual damage effects of various weapons on the ship's hull, systems and structures will be analyzed later.