The Navy Monday conducted a successful test launch of two unarmed Trident II D-5 Fleet Ballistic Missiles (FBMs), Lockheed Martin [LMT] reported.
The Lockheed Martin-built missiles were launched from the USS Louisiana (SSBN-743) in the Pacific Ocean.
The Trident II D-5 missile now has achieved 124 consecutive successful test launches since 1989-a record unmatched by any other large ballistic missile or space launch vehicle, according to Lockheed Martin.
Monday’s missile launch was part of a Follow-on Commander’s Evaluation Test. The Navy conducts a continuing series of operational system evaluation tests to assure the safety, reliability, readiness and performance of the Trident II D-5 Strategic Weapon System, as required by the Department of Defense’s National Command Authority, Lockheed Martin said. The tests are conducted under the testing guidelines of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
For the tests, operational missiles are converted into inert configurations using test missile kits produced by Lockheed Martin that contain range safety devices and flight telemetry instrumentation, the company added.
First deployed in 1990, the D-5 missile is currently aboard Ohio-class submarines and British Vanguard-class submarines. The three-stage, solid-propellant, inertial-guided ballistic missile can travel a nominal range of 4,000 nautical miles and carries multiple independently targeted reentry vehicles, according to Lockheed Martin.
Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company, Sunnyvale, Calif., is the prime contractor and program manager for the U.S. Navy’s Trident missile. Lockheed Martin Space Systems employees, principally in California, Georgia, Florida, Washington and Utah, support the design, development, production, test and operation of the Trident Strategic Weapon System. Lockheed Martin Space Systems has been the Navy’s prime strategic missile contractor since the inception of the program more than 50 years ago, the company said.
Monday’s test also involved the Lockheed Martin-integrated Navigation Subsystem that provides the highly-accurate and reliable navigation data required to support today’s stringent Trident Weapon System performance requirements. Lockheed Martin Maritime Systems & Sensors Undersea Systems business unit, Mitchel Field, N.Y., has been the Navy’s prime contractor for the Navigation Subsystem aboard FBM submarines since 1955, Lockheed Martin said.