Brian Bradley
NS&D Monitor
2/20/2015
The final update of the Trident 2 D5 architecture before the debut of the Ohio-Class nuclear submarine replacement program is on track to be completed by 2024, Navy Strategic Systems Programs Director Vice Adm. Terry Benedict said this week. Construction on the Ohio-Class Replacement is expected to run from 2021 to 2031. The “critical path” to synchronizing D5 missiles with the Ohio-Class Replacement is construction of electrostatic gyro-navigator (ESGN) models within the missiles’ navigation subsystems, Benedict said, while noting that all elements of Ohio-Class Replacement work would be integral to deliver the first submarine by its scheduled debut date of 2031. Procurement of the ESGN’s replacement is expected to last from FY 2020 to FY 2022, and Benedict said work is proceeding according to schedule thus far. “We will replace these with current technology,” Benedict said at the Seventh Annual Nuclear Deterrence Summit, held in Washington. “This will allow us to continue to provide accurate position information to the strategic weapons system.”
IFOG Technology to Replace ESGN
Interferometric Fiber-Optic Gyro (IFOG) technology will replace the ESGN model, and allow for greater dynamic range during flight, as the D5s will not be as sensitive to launch position, Benedict said. The missiles’ Guidance and Navigation Subsystems will work together to foster accuracy. Prior to launch, the navigation subsystem will provide data of the initial velocity, position and orientation of the X, Y and Z-axes. During flight, the guidance system performs a star set, whereby the missile rotates and positions itself based on a predetermined star. “And in shooting that star, we calculate the difference between where we think we should be and where we actually are,” Benedict said. “That difference is error. We remove the error prior to releasing the weapons.” D5s are currently performing at 114 percent of the reliability specification of the early 1980s, and about 240 percent of the accuracy specification, according to Benedict.
D5 Contracts
While Lockheed Martin is the prime contractor on the D5 life extension program, SSP awarded Charles Stark Draper Laboratory a $302.4 million sole-source, firm-fixed-price, fixed-price-incentive and cost-plus-incentive-fee contract for ongoing work of the Trident D5 MK 6 Guidance System Repair Program with failure verification, test, repair and recertification of inertial measurement units, electronic assemblies and electronic modules, according to a Feb. 9 Defense Department announcement. Benedict signaled optimism for the Guidance System’s Future, noting positive tests. “We have flown this system three times to date,” Benedict said. “All three flights were extremely successful, and met all test requirements. The command sequencer has been flown, certified, and is in production. The missile inverter has already been certified and is in production. We have flown the interlocks in the flight control electronics assemblies once, and this year, we will fly for the first time, the new guidance system with the new interlocks and flight control subsystems.” The testing is part of a move toward SSP’s planned 2017 initial operating capacity of the D5 life extension hardware suite, which is on track and on budget, Benedict said.
Pentagon Seeking $1.2 Billion for D5 Missile in FY16
The Pentagon has asked for $1.2 billion for the Trident D5 missile for FY 2016, after the Department received $1.3 billion to fund the missile program in FY 2015. In addition to the guidance system, the FY 2016 request is intended to improve the Arming, Fuzing and Firing systems and studies to support the National Nuclear Security Administration’s W88 ALT 370 program, according to budget documents. The $1.2 billion would also fund procurement of flight test instrumentation, 12 solid rocket motors, 35 LEP kits, support equipment and spares.
China Lake to Replace Old Facility at Former San Francisco Naval Shipyard for Launcher Installation
SSP started its Launcher Initiation Refresh in FY 2014. Northrop Grumman has been working a three-year, $76.8 million contract that involves support of SSBNs and Trident D5s, including launcher support. Soon, the Navy plans to develop launcher capabilities at the Naval Air Weapons Station at China Lake, Calif., which contains a launcher development facility that “will allow us to certify all the various components of a production capability that had been dormant for years, that had been the launch tube production capability,” Benedict said.
The China Lake facility will replace the Hunters Point Facility at the former San Francisco Naval Shipyard. Testing at the new facility will differ from testing at SFNS in that it will involve a winch that will attach to the nose of the D5 and simulate the cross-flow vector the missiles will experience during underwater launch, Benedict said. Testing at SFNS involved real underwater testing. General Dynamics Electric Boat in December was awarded an $83.8 million cost-plus-fixed-fee contract modification to design missile tubes for the Ohio Replacement. Electric Boat is the prime contractor on that missile tube contract mod, which also involves B&W.
Benedict Echoes Navy Leadership Resolve to Build Ohio Replacement
In recent meetings and Congressional hearings, Navy leaders have underscored that the $100 billion Ohio-Class Replacement is the service’s No. 1 priority, despite the fact that the program is estimated to occupy about one-half to one-third of the overall shipbuilding budget throughout the Future Years’ Defense Program. Benedict emphasized in his remarks this week the priority and signaled that SSP is receiving solid financial support for the program. “I think [Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Jonathan Greenert, [Navy] Secretary [Ray Mabus], made it very clear, not just in their words, but in their actions, that this is their number-one mission,” Benedict said. “From a budgetary standpoint, I have been better supported today than I can remember in my 20 years at SSP. … So we’ve done the analysis. The real question will be what flexibility are we given to spread additional resources or other resources in order to minimize the impact?”
For more coverage of the Seventh Annual Nuclear Deterrence Summit, please see next week’s edition of NS&D Monitor.
