LockheedMartin-Built Trident II D5 Missile Achieves 130th Successful Test Flight
UNITED STATES - 29 DECEMBER 2009
The U.S. Navy conducted a successful test flight Dec. 19 of a Trident II D5 Fleet Ballistic Missile (FBM) built by Lockheed Martin ( LMT). The U.S. Navy launched the unarmed missile from the submerged submarine USS ALASKA (SSBN 732) in the Atlantic Ocean.
This test marked the 130th consecutive successful test flight of the Trident II D5 missile since 1989 - continuing a 20-year record of reliability that is unmatched by any other large ballistic missile or space launch vehicle.
"The professionalism of the entire Navy and industry team for the Trident Strategic Weapon System has made possible the 100-percent mission success of the D5 missile in 130 test flights over 20 years," said Melanie A. Sloane, vice president of Fleet Ballistic Missile programs, Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company, the Navy's Trident missile prime contractor.
The U.S. Navy launched the missile as part of a Demonstration and Shakedown Operation (DASO) to certify USS ALASKA for deployment, following a shipyard overhaul period. For the test, a missile was converted into a test configuration using a test missile kit produced by Lockheed Martin that contains range safety devices and flight telemetry instrumentation.
First deployed in 1990, the D5 missile is currently aboard U.S. Navy 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.
Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company, Sunnyvale, Calif., is the Trident missile prime contractor and program manager for the U.S. Navy Strategic Systems Programs. Lockheed Martin Space Systems employees, principally in California, Georgia, Florida, Washington, Utah and Virginia, support the design, development, production, test, and operation and sustainment 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 test also involved the Lockheed Martin-integrated navigation subsystem that provides navigation data required to support today's stringent Trident Weapon System performance requirements. Lockheed Martin Maritime Systems & Sensors Undersea Systems at Mitchel Field, N.Y., has been the prime contractor for the navigation subsystem aboard fleet ballistic missile submarines since 1955.
Source: Lockheed Martin
More Information on: Trident II D5 Intercontinental Submarine-Launched Ballistic Missile (SLBM).
(U.S. Navy and U.K. Royal Navy).
The US Navy gives the range as 'greater than 7,360km' but this could be up to 12,000km depending on the payload mix.
Trident II is a three-stage solid propellant missile with supersonic speed. Missile guidance is provided by an inertial navigation system, supported by stellar navigation. Trident II is capable of carrying up to 12 MIRVs (multiple independent re-entry vehicles), although the SALT treaty limits this number to eight a missile.
UNITED STATES - 29 DECEMBER 2009
The U.S. Navy conducted a successful test flight Dec. 19 of a Trident II D5 Fleet Ballistic Missile (FBM) built by Lockheed Martin ( LMT). The U.S. Navy launched the unarmed missile from the submerged submarine USS ALASKA (SSBN 732) in the Atlantic Ocean.
This test marked the 130th consecutive successful test flight of the Trident II D5 missile since 1989 - continuing a 20-year record of reliability that is unmatched by any other large ballistic missile or space launch vehicle.
"The professionalism of the entire Navy and industry team for the Trident Strategic Weapon System has made possible the 100-percent mission success of the D5 missile in 130 test flights over 20 years," said Melanie A. Sloane, vice president of Fleet Ballistic Missile programs, Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company, the Navy's Trident missile prime contractor.
The U.S. Navy launched the missile as part of a Demonstration and Shakedown Operation (DASO) to certify USS ALASKA for deployment, following a shipyard overhaul period. For the test, a missile was converted into a test configuration using a test missile kit produced by Lockheed Martin that contains range safety devices and flight telemetry instrumentation.
First deployed in 1990, the D5 missile is currently aboard U.S. Navy 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.
Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company, Sunnyvale, Calif., is the Trident missile prime contractor and program manager for the U.S. Navy Strategic Systems Programs. Lockheed Martin Space Systems employees, principally in California, Georgia, Florida, Washington, Utah and Virginia, support the design, development, production, test, and operation and sustainment 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 test also involved the Lockheed Martin-integrated navigation subsystem that provides navigation data required to support today's stringent Trident Weapon System performance requirements. Lockheed Martin Maritime Systems & Sensors Undersea Systems at Mitchel Field, N.Y., has been the prime contractor for the navigation subsystem aboard fleet ballistic missile submarines since 1955.
Source: Lockheed Martin
More Information on: Trident II D5 Intercontinental Submarine-Launched Ballistic Missile (SLBM).
(U.S. Navy and U.K. Royal Navy).
The US Navy gives the range as 'greater than 7,360km' but this could be up to 12,000km depending on the payload mix.
Trident II is a three-stage solid propellant missile with supersonic speed. Missile guidance is provided by an inertial navigation system, supported by stellar navigation. Trident II is capable of carrying up to 12 MIRVs (multiple independent re-entry vehicles), although the SALT treaty limits this number to eight a missile.
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