Pacific Air Forces said a B-2 Spirit used an AGM-158C Long Range Anti-Ship Missile to strike the former USS Juneau during Valiant Shield 2026 in the Philippine Sea on June 27, 2026. The release, issued on June 29, said the aircraft’s use of the missile was the first time the U.S. military had acknowledged that capability, adding a new maritime role to a carrier strike group exercise.
Gen. Kevin B. Schneider on the strike
Gen. Kevin B. Schneider said, “The B-2’s impressive performance underscores the U.S. military’s commitment to adaptability and flexibility in the face of emerging security challenges” in the June 29 release. He also said, “By prioritizing counter-maritime strike operations, we can maintain a decisive edge over adversaries, protect our national interest, and ensure the free and open Pacific that underpin our global security.”
Air Force Global Strike Command said the B-2 fired its LRASM at the former USS Juneau, a decommissioned Austin-class amphibious transport dock that saw action in the Vietnam and Gulf wars before its 2008 retirement. PACAF photographs showed the missile loaded onto the B-2 at Whiteman Air Force Base, Mo., on June 22, 2026, before the aircraft flew to Andersen Air Force Base in Guam and then on to the June 27 exercise.
Valiant Shield 26 and PACAF
PACAF said the exercise represented a major step forward in countering maritime threats. The B-2 is assigned to Whiteman’s 509th Bomb Wing, and an F-15E Strike Eagle from the 85th Test and Evaluation Squadron also took part in the exercise. The missile itself is described as an anti-ship cruise missile derived from the Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile and designed to hit ships at long range.
The new element is not the exercise itself but the platform. In 2024, a B-2 employed QUICKSINK during a SINKEX, so the aircraft had already been used in a sinking exercise before the June 27 strike. What changed this time was PACAF’s public acknowledgment that the bomber used an AGM-158C, a step that puts the B-2 into a more explicit maritime strike role inside the Pacific mission set.
USS Juneau and QUICKSINK
The former USS Juneau was the target ship used in the live-fire sinking exercise. For readers tracking the operational shift, the key point is that the B-2 now has a publicly acknowledged anti-ship role with LRASM, even as the aircraft had already been tied to a sinking exercise in 2024 with QUICKSINK. The June 29 release makes the first acknowledged use of the AGM-158C by the B-2 the center of the announcement, not the sink exercise itself.
