Trident II D5 Missile Achieves Record 120 Successful Test Launches in a Row
The U.S. Navy conducted a successful test launch on 29th November, of a Trident II D5 Fleet Ballistic Missile (FBM). The Navy launched the unarmed missile from the submerged submarine USS HENRY M JACKSON (SSBN 730) in the Pacific Ocean.
The Trident II D5 missile now has achieved 120 consecutive successful test launches since 1989 – a record unmatched by any other large ballistic missile or space launch vehicle.
The missile launch was part of the Demonstration and Shakedown Operation (DASO) to certify USS HENRY M JACKSON for deployment, following a shipyard overhaul period and conversion from Trident I C4 to Trident II D5 configuration.
The Navy performs tests to assure the safety, reliability, readiness and performance of the Trident II D5 Strategic Weapon System, as required by the Department of Defense’s National Command Authority and 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.
First deployed in 1990, the D5 missile is currently aboard 12 Trident II Ohio-class submarines and four British Trident II 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.
The test also involved the Navigation Subsystem that continuously and covertly provides the highly-accurate and reliable navigation data required to support Trident Weapon System performance requirements. An Electrostatically Supported Gyro Navigator and a Navigation Sonar System together provide the initial navigation inputs to the Fire Control Subsystem in support of the Weapon System missile launch. 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.
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