Operational by 2042: Latest Upgrades to Keep US Trident Ballistic Missiles

The US Navy has carried out two new successful firings of its submarine-launched Trident II D-5 nuclear-capable ballistic missiles to test upgrades that will keep them operational until 2042, defense contractor Lockheed Martin said in a news release

The three-stage ballistic missile has a range of 4,000 nautical miles and can carry multiple independently targeted reentry warheads.

“These two missile flights formally qualify the new flight control and interlocks electronics packages for deployment in 2017,” the release, issued on Tuesday, said.

Lockheed Martin noted that the modernized avionics subsystems, which control key missile functions during flight, “enable missile life extension through 2042.”

The missiles were test-fired on November 7 and November 9 in the Pacific Ocean from an Ohio nuclear-powered submarine, the release noted.

“Lockheed Martin is incorporating modernized electronics technology to cost effectively prolong the service life of the D5 missile design on current and next-generation submarine platforms,” the release added.

The Trident II D5 missile is deployed aboard 14 US Navy Ohio-class and four British Vanguard-class submarines and was first test-fired in 1989.

Source: Sputnik News