The decomissioned USS Juneau takes a hit from Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force submarine’s torpedo during a live-fire sinking exercise as part of Valiant Shield 2026 in the Philippine Sea, June 27, 2026. (Anthony Vilardi/U.S. Navy)
American and allied forces sank a decommissioned U.S. warship during a recent live-fire exercise in the western Pacific, the first publicly acknowledged use of a new anti-ship missile from a B-2 Spirit stealth bomber.
The decommissioned amphibious transport dock ship USS Juneau sank on Saturday about 200 miles from Guam after a barrage of live fire during exercise Valiant Shield, Pacific Air Forces said in a news release Monday. The exercise concluded on Wednesday, according to a news release from the U.S. Pacific Fleet.
As part of Valiant Shield, a B-2 Spirit fired an AGM-158C Long Range Anti-Ship Missile, or LRASM, marking the first time the Defense Department has publicly acknowledged the bomber’s use of the weapon, Air and Space Forces Magazine reported Wednesday.
The recently developed missile features a range of over 230 miles, semi-autonomous navigation and a 1,000-lb penetrating blast fragmentation warhead, according to developer Lockheed Martin’s website.
A U.S. Air Force B-2 Spirit aircraft departs Andersen Air Force Base, Guam, ahead of a live-fire sinking exercise as part of Valiant Shield, June 27, 2026. (Joshua Hastings/U.S. Air Force)
The Juneau, commissioned in 1969, the following year carried Marines returning from the Vietnam War. In 1989, the ship responded with the dock landing ship USS Fort McHenry to the Exxon-Valdez oil spill in Alaska; and in 1990, the Juneau sailed in operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm, according to the Naval History and Heritage Command website.
Aircraft like the B-1B Lancer heavy bomber and the F-18 Super Hornet fighter jet can carry the LRASM, and efforts to integrate the missile with the F-35 Lightning II stealth fighter, F-15 Eagle fighter and the P-8 Orion maritime patrol aircraft are “ongoing,” according to Lockheed Martin.
Additional aircraft, warships and submarines also participated in coordinated strikes on the Juneau. The sinking exercise was meant to “sharpen critical skills in weapons employment and target engagement under realistic conditions that no simulator can fully replicate,” Task Force 70 and Pacific Air Forces said in a separate news release Tuesday.
Among them were F-18 Super Hornets assigned to the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan’s Carrier Air Wing 5 and a Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force submarine, according to photo captions in the news releases.
Spokespeople for Valiant Shield acknowledged Stars and Stripes’ request for comment in a Wednesday email but provided no responses as of Wednesday evening.
