D5 Fleet Ballistic Missile Launched in Navy Test in the Atlantic Continues 20-year Record of Reliability
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 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.
Photo : military.cz
"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 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 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.
(Photo:Fas.org)
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.
Altogether,
nearly 3,000 employees throughout the Lockheed Martin Corporation
support the Navy's Fleet Ballistic Missile program.
Headquartered
in Bethesda, Md., Lockheed Martin is a global security company that
employs about 140,000 people worldwide and is principally engaged in
the research, design, development, manufacture, integration and
sustainment of advanced technology systems, products and services. The
corporation reported 2008 sales of $42.7 billion. (Original News)
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