Trident II D5 Missile: Keeping Up with Changing Times [updated]
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Draper Lab gets $131.1 million contract to upgrade the guidance systems on the Trident II D5 missile. (Feb 2/10)
The year that the Trident II D5 ballistic missile was first deployed, 1990, saw the beginning of the end of the missile’s primary mission – to deter a first nuclear strike by the Soviet Union.
Nuclear tipped missiles were first deployed on board US submarines in the 1960s at the height of the Cold War to deter a Soviet first strike. The deterrence theorists argued that, unlike their land-based cousins, submarine-based nuclear weapons couldn’t be taken out by a surprise first strike by the Soviet Union because the submarines were nearly impossible to locate and target. Thus, Soviet leaders could not hope to destroy the weapons before they could be launched against Soviet territory.
But by the time the latest version of the submarine-launched ballistic missile was deployed, the existence of the Soviet Union itself was in doubt. The previous year, the Soviet’s Eastern European client states began to fall, symbolized by the destruction of the Berlin Wall. The Soviet Union itself began to crumble with various Soviet republics rebelling against the central government in 1990. Then, in 1991, a failed coup attempt against Soviet reformer Mikhail Gorbachev brought to power Boris Yeltsin, who promptly dissolved the Soviet Union…
The end of the Soviet Union and the easing of the Soviet first strike threat did not end the need for a nuclear deterrent. The unpredictability of a nuclear-armed Russia and the threat of nuclear-armed rogue states and non-state actors necessitated US retention of a nuclear deterrent capability.
To ensure the US deterrent capability was maintained at peak readiness, the US Navy undertook a program in 2002 to replace aging components of the Trident II D5 missile called the D5 Life Extension (LE) Program. The program involves updating the missile’s electronics, guidance and reentry systems.
The Trident II D5 LE Program is intended to extend the service life of the weapon system until 2042 to match the hull life of the Ohio-class submarine. Under the program, 108 additional missiles [pdf] are being purchased in order to meet long-term inventory requirements associated with the LE of the Ohio-class nuclear submarines.
The prime contractor [pdf] for the Trident II D5 program, as well as all of the US submarine-launched ballistic programs since the first generation Polaris missile, is Lockheed Martin.
Unless otherwise noted, the US Navy’s Strategic Systems Programs in Arlington, VA issued the contracts.
Feb 2/10: Charles Stark Draper Laboratory in Cambridge, MA received a $131.1 million cost-plus-incentive-fee contract for the Trident II D5 MK6 life extension guidance system. This contract is to procure long lead materials and circuit card assemblies to support the delivery of 20 MK6LE guidance systems.
Draper Lab will perform the work in Bloomington, MN (59%); Clearwater, FL (22%); Cambridge, MA (15%); and Pittsfield, MA (4%), and expects to complete it by June 30/15. This contract is a sole source acquisition by the US Navy’s Strategic Systems Programs in Arlington, VA (N00030-10-C-0015).
Dec 28/09: Lockheed Martin announces that the US Navy conducted a test flight of a Trident II D5 missile from the USS Alaska (SSBN 732) in the Atlantic Ocean. The test, conducted Dec 19/09, marks the 130th successful test flight of the Trident II D5 missile since 1989.
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 contained range safety devices and flight telemetry instrumentation.
Dec 14/09: General Dynamics Advanced Information Systems received a contract from Charles Stark Draper Laboratory to produce integrated circuits for the Trident II D5 submarine-launched ballistic missile program. This is a 3-year contract with a total potential value of $110 million including the pre-priced options.
The contract is part of the Trident II D5 LE program. General Dynamics is also providing circuit card assemblies for the Trident II D5 missile and guidance systems. The principle subcontractor to General Dynamics for the wafer foundry services is Honeywell International and work will be performed at its Plymouth, MN facility.
Dec 8/09: Lockheed Martin Space Systems in Sunnyvale, CA received a not-to-exceed $851 million cost-plus-incentive-fee/ cost-plus-fixed-fee contract to provide support for production of Trident II D-5 ballistic missiles as well as maintenance of deployed D-5 and C-4 missiles.
Under the contract, Lockheed Martin is providing D5 missile hardware production support and reentry system hardware, as well as operations and maintenance to support the readiness and reliability of missile systems deployed aboard the US Navy’s Trident II Ohio-class SSBNs. The contract also continues the D5 LE effort, which updates electronic components to support the extended service life of the Ohio-class SSBNs
Mature D5 production efforts will transition to a fixed-price-incentive contract in fiscal year 2011. Lockheed Martin expects to complete the work by Dec 30/13. Contract funds in the amount of $284,965 will expire at the end the current fiscal year. The contract was not competitively procured (N00030-10-C-0100).
Dec 4/09: Charles Stark Draper Laboratory in Cambridge, MA received a $133.3 million modification (#P00003) under a previously awarded cost-plus-incentive-fee, cost-plus-fixed-fee contract (N00030-09-C-0008) for the Trident II D5 guidance system tactical engineering support and guidance applications program.
Specific tasks include:
- provide tactical engineering support;
- provide Mk6 LE field support services;
- develop a strategic guidance application program;
- develop a GPS receiver design approach;
- provide support for the Extended Navy Test Bed (ENTB) and ENTB derivative reentry body experiments (ENTB [pdf] is a special Trident reentry body used to test performance of the missile’s reentry vehicle guidance using GPS); and
- assess maintaining the accuracy of the existing reentry systems.
The contract modification increases the total contract value to $290.7 million. Work will be performed in Cambridge, MA (73%); Pittsfield, MA (21%); El Segundo, CA (4%); Clearwater, FL (1%); and Andover, MA (1%). Work is expected to be complete by Sept 30/11.
Dec 4/09: Charles Stark Draper Laboratory in Cambridge, MA received a $109.7 million modification (#P00009) under a previously awarded cost-plus-incentive-fee, cost-plus-fixed-fee contract (N00030-08-C-0010) for repair of the Trident II D5 Mk 6 LE guidance system.
Specific tasks include guidance system repair and the delivery of Mk6 LE pre-production units to support 3 planned proofing test missile flights. The modification increases the total contract value to $547.6 million. Work will be performed in Cambridge, MA (82%) and Pittsfield, MA (18%) and is expected to be complete by Sept 30/12.
The Mk6 LE guidance system is a replacement for the aging Mk6 guidance system, which used 1980s technology that isn’t in production any more. The Next Generation Guidance (NGG) program aims to develop the Mk6 LE as a modern replacement that can achieve the same or better performance as the guidance systems that are breaking down. This requires development of precision instruments, sensors, and radiation hardened architectures, in order to adapt the underlying commercial technologies for use in a must-not-malfunction nuclear weapons system.
Nov 24/09: Lockheed Martin Maritime Systems & Sensors in Mitchel Field, NY received a $62.9 million cost-plus incentive fee/ cost-plus-fixed-fee contract to provide navigation subsystem engineering support services to the US and UK fleet of Trident II D5 ballistic missiles. The contract contains options, which if exercised, would bring its cumulative value to $141.4 million.
Under the contract, Lockheed Martin will provide fleet support, strategic weapon system shipboard integration support and trainer, trainer systems support, sea-based strategic deterrent support, engineering refueling overhaul support, and navigation subsystem studies.
Lockheed Martin will perform the work in Mitchel Field, NY (95.4%); Oldsmar, FL (3.6%); Baltimore, MD (0.4%); Moorestown, NJ (0.4%); Eagan, MN (0.1%); and Manassas, VA (0.1%). The company expects to complete the work by Dec 31/11, or Sept 30/13 if all options are exercised. Contract funds in the amount of $30.1 million will expire at the end of the current fiscal year (N00030-10-C-0002).
Nov 16/09: L3 Interstate Electronics Corp. in Anaheim, CA received a $39.2 million cost-plus-incentive-fee, cost-plus-fixed-fee contract to provide data acquisition, processing, and analysis for Trident missile flight test missions of the United States and United Kingdom. This contract contains options, which if exercised, would bring the contract value to $49.4 million.
L3 Interstate Electronics will perform the Trident flight test data work in Anaheim, CA (50%); Austin, TX (20%); Ascension Island (10%); Cape Canaveral, FL (10%); and St. Croix, US Virgin Islands (10%), and expects to complete it by Sept 30/10, or September 2012 if all options are exercised (N00030-10-C-0009).
Jan 9/07: Lockheed Martin Space Systems Co’s Space and Strategic Missiles division in Sunnyvale, CA received $654.9 million for Modification PZ0001 under a previously awarded cost-plus-incentive-fee/ cost-plus-fixed-fee contract (N00030-06-C-0100) to provide for Trident II D5 and Trident I C4 nuclear sea-launched ballistic missiles. The Trident C-4 has been in service since 1979, but the D-5 Trident II is more recent. First deployed in 1990 and scheduled for operational deployment until 2042, 12 of the USA’s 14 SSBNs have been outfitted with Trident II D-5 missiles, and the other 2 will be backfitted as opportunity permits.
Work will be performed in Sunnyvale, Irvine, Torrance and Santa Ana, CA (33.42%); St. Mary’s, GA (15.76%); Brigham City, UT (15.76%); Cape Canaveral, FL (11.89%); Silverdale and Nepoulsbo, WA (10.5%); Gainsville, VA (2.34%); Kingsport, TN (1.65%); and miscellaneous sites throughout the U.S. (9.3%). Contract funds in the amount of $247.6 million will expire at the end of the current fiscal year, and work is expected to be complete by September 2010.
Nov 27/06: The Charles Stark Draper Laboratory in Cambridge, MA received a $195.75 million contract for tactical engineering support re: the Mk 6 guidance system used on American and British Trident II D-5 nuclear missiles. Contract funds in the amount of $76.6 million will expire at the end of current fiscal year, and this contract contains options which would bring its cumulative value to $201.9 million if exercised.
Work will include repair and recertification of Mk 6 guidance systems, including pendulous integrating gyroscopic accelerometers, inertial measurement units, electronic assemblies, inertial measurement units electronics, repair parts, test equipment maintenance, and related hardware; deliver a product and process improvement study to investigate approaches to reduce life-cycle cost and improve performance of the Fleet Ballistic Missile Guidance System program; and employ it’s personnel and facilities in the conduct of various important technical studies including the Guidance Application Program and the Radiation Hardened Application Program. It will be performed in Cambridge, MA (64%); Pittsfield, MA (23%); Andover, MA (5%); El Segundo, CA (3%); Clearwater, FL (3%); and Woodland Hills, CA (2%), and is expected to be complete September 2007 (N00030-07-C-0001).
April 6/06: Alliant Techsystems received a $76 million contract from Lockheed Martin to produce solid propulsion systems for all three stages of the US Navy’s Trident II D5 missile. Under the terms of the contract, ATK will continue to supply Trident solid propulsion systems to Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company in Sunnyvale, CA through 2010.
April 5/06: Charles Stark Draper Laboratory in Cambridge, MA received a $26.9 million cost-plus-incentive-fee contract to provide repair and recertification of MK-6 guidance systems, including pendulous integrating gyroscopic accelerometers, inertial measurement units, electronic assemblies, inertial measurement units electronics, repair parts, test equipment maintenance, and related hardware. Work will be performed in Cambridge, MA and is expected to be complete September 2006 (N000-30-06-C-0002).
Dec 22/05: Lockheed Martin Space Systems in Sunnyvale, CA received an $869 million cost-plus-incentive-fee, cost-plus-fixed-fee, cost-plus-award-fee contract from the US Navy to provide funding for fiscal 2006 Trident II D5 Missile Production and Deployed System Support.
Work on this FY 2006 Trident II D5 production & sustainment contract will be performed in Sunnyvale, CA (39%); Magna, UT (12%); Kings Bay, GA (11%); Cocoa Beach, FL (12%); Bangor, WA (8%); Gainesville, VA (3%); Kings Port, TN (1%), Rockville, MD (1%), Lancaster, PA (2%); and other locations (11%), and is expected to be complete by September 2009 (N00030-05-C-0100, Mod. No. PZ0001).
Dec 12/05: The Charles Stark Draper Laboratory (CSDL) in Cambridge, MA received a $101.1 million modification to previously awarded cost-plus-incentive-fee contract (N00030-05-C-0007) to develop all the system software and algorithms, system sensors, gyroscopes, and accelerometers for the MK6 LE system. CSDL will also build all the system test beds and integrate all the subsystems produced by the subcontractors (General Dynamics, Raytheon, Honeywell, Dynamics Research Corp.) into the final MK6 LE proof of concept model.
Nov 16/05: BAE Systems Applied Technologies in Rockville, MD is being awarded a $62.5 million cost plus fixed fee and cost-plus incentive-fee-of-effort contract. This contract provides for System Integration Support for the Trident II D5 Fleet Ballistic Missile (FBM) Program in implementing interface control programs and performing special technical investigations such as the following:
- Modify and update system test procedures;
- Perform configuration management and alteration control via documentation, drawings and technical manuals;
- Provide logistics, engineering and material control support; and
- Provide maintenance support data system installation and support for the strategic weapon system, including materials.
The contract also contains option effort to plan for and participate in strategic weapon system testing during submarine overhaul, refit and backfit; and to provide
- Tomahawk Land Attack Missile-Nuclear (TLAM-N) support
- Advanced Systems’ Studies
- Strategic Weapon System Underwater Launch Technology Sustainment
- Trident II D5 Life Extension Systems Engineering, and
- Trident Submarine Operation and Employment Studies.
Work will be performed in Rockville, MD (78.58%), Kings Bay, GA (11.78%); Mechanicsburg, PA (2.83%); San Diego, CA (5.96%), and Bangor, WA (0.85%); and and is expected to be complete by September 2006. Contract funds in the amount of $44.6 million will expire at the end of the current fiscal year (N00030-06-C-0006).
Nov 16/05: General Dynamics Advanced Information Systems (GDAIS) in Pittsfield, MA received an $8.3 million cost-plus-incentive-fee contract to provide Trident II weapon control systems operational support and weapon control system repair and return. Work will be performed in Pittsfield, MA, and is expected to be complete by September 2006. Contract funds in the amount of $4 million will expire at the end of the current fiscal year (N00030-05-C-0051).
Nov 15/05: The Charles Stark Draper Laboratory (CSDL) in Cambridge, MA received $130.6 million cost-plus-incentive-fee, cost-plus-fixed-fee contract, elements of which will also be subcontracted out to various other firms. The contract encompasses the following efforts:
- Providing tactical engineering support (TES) for the US and UK Mk6 Guidance System
- Providing tactical engineering support (TES) for the Trident II D5’s Guidance System Test Equipment
- Providing tactical engineering support for investigation, evaluation, and development of Strategic Programs Alteration (SPALT) plans and/or special studies for the Mk6 Guidance System.
CSDL will subcontract to the following companies:
- Dynamics Research Corp. (DRC) in Andover MA to maintain and operate the centralized engineering database for the Mk6 guidance system, and perform various product improvement tasks related to the Mk6 guidance system test equipment;
- General Dynamics Advanced Information Systems (GDAIS) in Pittsfield MA, to provide field-engineering support at Strategic Weapons Facility Atlantic and Strategic Weapons Facility Pacific;
- Raytheon Company Electronics Systems Division in El Segundo, CA to provide test equipment maintenance and support, fleet support, stellar camera development, and electronic factory support;
- Honeywell International, Inc. in Clearwater, FL, to provide storage assessment testing on Trident guidance systems inertial instruments; and
- Litton Systems in Woodland Hills, CA, to provide for the development of the alternate pendulous integrating accelerometer.
CSDL’s work will be performed in Cambridge, MA, and work on this contract is expected to be complete in September 2006. Contract funds in the amount of $73.7 million will expire at the end of the current fiscal year (N000-30-06-C-0003).
Nov 14/05: The Boeing Co. in Anaheim, CA received a $14.2 million cost-plus-incentive-fee letter contract to provide for Trident II Subsystem Fiber Optic Gyro Navigator Design Investigations and Test System Design. Work will be performed in Anaheim, CA and is expected to be complete by October 2007. The contract was not competitively procured (N00030-05-C-0063).
Sep 29/05: General Dynamics Advanced Information Systems in Pittsfield, MA received a $28.3 million cost-plus-incentive-fee contract to provide Trident II Mk98 MOD 6/7 Strategic Weapons Systems Development and Production. The Mk98 mod 6/7 is an updated fire control system for the SSBN 726 Ohio Class nuclear ballistic missile submarines and their Trident II nuclear missiles. Work will be performed in Pittsfield, MA and is expected to be complete by December 2009 (N00030-05-C-0051).
- DID (Dec 9/09) – Up to $851M to Lockheed Martin for Trident Ballistic Missile Support
- DID (Dec 6/09) – $243M to Draper Laboratory for Trident II D5 Guidance System Support
- DID (Nov 24/09) – Up to $141.4M to Lockheed Martin for Trident Navigation System Support
- DID (Jan 11/09) – US Spending $654.9M to Maintain Trident SLBMs
- DID (Nov 27/06) – $197.5M to Refurbish Mk6 SLBM Guidance Systems
- DID (April 6/06) – Trident D-5 SLBM Maintenance: Rocket Motors, Guidance
- DID (Dec 22/05) – $869M for USA’s FY06 Trident D-5 Nuclear SLBM Production and Support
- DID (Dec 15/05) – $101.1M to Develop the MK6 LE – So, What’s That?
- DID (Nov 18/05) – $215.6M for Trident II Missile-Related Contracts
- DID (Sep 29/05) – $28.3M for Trident II SLBM Fire Control System
