Navy Extends, Upgrades Sub-Launched Nuclear Weapons to 2080

by Kris Osborn

In order to prevent obsolescence and ensure the missile system remains viable for decades to come.

Lockheed Martin Space Systems has received a $22.2 million contract for material, labor and support services for the U.S. Navy’s Trident II D5 submarine-launched ballistic missile production.

The US Navy is accelerating upgrades to the nuclear warhead for its arsenal of Trident II D5 nuclear-armed submarine launched missiles — massively destructive weapons designed to keep international peace by ensuring and undersea-fired second-strike ability in the event of a catastrophic nuclear first strike on the US.

Navy Strategic Systems leaders have emphasized the need for long-term sustainment of the triad’s sea-based leg, creating a need to maintain submarine-launched nuclear weapons to 2080.

The Navy has also been working on the missile’s MK 6 guidance system to continue specific work on the weapon’s electronic modules.

As part of the technical improvements to the missile, the Navy is upgrading what’s called the Mk-4 re-entry body, the part of the missile that houses a thermonuclear warhead. The life extension for the Mk-4 re-entry body includes efforts to replace components including the firing circuit, Navy officials explained.

Navy and industry engineers have been modernizing the guidance system by replacing two key components due to obsolescence – the inertial measurement unit and the electronics assembly, developers said.