A Trident II D5 fleet ballistic missile was launched from a submarine submerged in the Pacific Ocean, the USS Alabama (SSBN 731), making the 126 successful test flight since 1989, Lockheed Martin Corp. [LMT] announced.
That record is unmatched by any other large ballistic missile or space launch vehicle, according to Lockheed.
The Navy launched the missile as part of a Demonstration and Shakedown Operation (DASO) to certify USS Alabama for deployment, following a shipyard overhaul period and conversion from Trident I C4 to Trident II D5 configuration. For the test, a missile was converted into a test configuration using a test missile kit produced by Lockheed 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.
Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company, Sunnyvale, Calif., is the prime contractor and program manager for the Trident. Lockheed Martin Space Systems employees, principally in California, Georgia, Florida, Washington, Utah and Virginia, support design, development, production, test and operation of the Trident Strategic Weapon System.
The test also involved the Lockheed Martin-integrated navigation subsystem that provides navigation data required to support Trident Weapon System performance requirements.
Altogether, nearly 3,000 employees throughout the Lockheed support the fleet ballistic missile program.