The U.S. military has completed one of its most significant live-fire naval exercises in recent years during Exercise Valiant Shield 2026.
In the Philippine Sea, more than 200 nautical miles off Guam, U.S. and allied forces carried out a SINKEX (Sinking Exercise), using the decommissioned USS Juneau (LPD-10) as the target. The operation brought together U.S. Navy, U.S. Air Force, and allied forces from Japan and other partner nations in a coordinated multi-domain attack.
The biggest milestone came when a U.S. Air Force B-2 Spirit stealth bomber launched an AGM-158C Long Range Anti-Ship Missile (LRASM) in what is the first publicly acknowledged operational employment of the weapon from the B-2 platform. Additional strikes included Harpoon missiles from a U.S. Navy P-8A Poseidon, Japanese anti-ship missiles, and a heavyweight torpedo fired from a Japanese submarine that ultimately sent the USS Juneau to the bottom.
The exercise is part of Valiant Shield 2026, a major Indo-Pacific military exercise designed to improve interoperability between the United States and allies while demonstrating long-range precision strike capabilities in contested maritime environments.
In this video, we cover:
• Why the USS Juneau was intentionally sunk
• The B-2 Spirit’s historic LRASM mission
• Every weapon used during the exercise
• The role of U.S. and allied forces
• What this means for the future of naval warfare
