Lockheed Martin Space received a $559 modification to a previously awarded contract for Trident II D5 Submarine-Launched Ballistic Missile (SLBM).

The deal, announced Friday by the U.S. Department of Defense, covers Trident II D5 missile production and deployed system support.

Work is expected to be completed Sept. 30, 2023.

The Submarine-Launched Ballistic Missile (SLBM) Program at NSWCDD has a 61-year history of providing a credible sea-based strategic deterrent.

Submarine launched ballistic missiles have been an integral part of the strategic deterrent for six generations, starting in 1956 with the FBM Polaris (A1) program. Since then, SLBM evolved through Polaris (A2), Polaris (A3), Poseidon (C3) Trident I (C4) and today’s force of Trident II D5. Each generation has been continuously deployed at sea as a survivable retaliatory force and has been routinely operationally tested and evaluated to maintain confidence and credibility in the deterrent.

The Trident II D5 is a three-stage, solid-propellant, inertial-guided ballistic missile developed by Lockheed Martin. The missile can carry multiple independently targeted reentry bodies for a maximum range of over 7,360km.

Trident II D5 was first deployed in 1990 and is planned to be deployed past 2020. The Trident II D5 missile is also provided to the United Kingdom which equips the missile with UK warheads and deploys the missile on Vanguard Class UK submarines.