Strategic Systems Programs > About Us > SSP Mission

SSP's efforts to modernize weapons systems in support of SBSD 2084 execution, in a dynamic and unpredictable strategic environment, are rooted in the development of the COLUMBIA and UK DREADNOUGHT Strategic Weapons Systems (SWS) and advanced weapon capabilities in the TRIDENT II D5LE2 missile and W93/Mk7 warhead and reentry body assembly. Simultaneously, SSP will develop and deliver the U.S. Navy’s non-nuclear Conventional Prompt Strike Hypersonic Missile capability to fill a critical deterrence gap in our full spectrum of deterrence SWS.

Both OHIO and VANGUARD Class SSBNs continue to provide a superior return on investment to their nations through deterrence of major power conflict for approximately four decades. However, both nations have concluded it is time to make a generational investment into their SBSD to deter potential future transitions from Strategic Competition to Strategic Conflict. The Congress of the U.S. has already approved funding for Hulls 1 and 2 of the COLUMBIA Class SSBN (SSBN 826 and SSBN 827). Planned for a minimum of a 12-ship COLUMBIA Class SSBN fleet, this highly advanced and ultra-quiet submarine is designed with a life of ship reactor core which avoids a loss of operational availability due to a mid-life core refueling as was the case in previous SSBN classes, including OHIO. The Department of Defense (DOD) and Navy were able to capitalize on the demonstrated accuracy and reliability of the Trident II D5 Weapons System to reduce the number of missile tubes on each submarine from 24 to 16, saving critical defense dollars to be invested in other areas of the DOD. The UK is simultaneously developing their four ship UK DREADNOUGHT Class SSBN to replace the VANGUARD submarines as they approach end of life. Both nations built on previous decades of collaboration through the Polaris Sales Agreement and the Mutual Defense Agreement to design and develop a Common Missile Compartment that will support the Trident II D5/D5LE/D5LE2 weapons system while reducing costs and logistical overhead through commonality.

Strategic Systems Programs, in close collaboration with Program Executive Office Strategic (PEOSSBN) and their UK counterparts, is overseeing the execution of the Common Missile Compartment (CMC) construction and associated installation into their respective COLUMBIA and DREADNOUGHT submarines. This effort forms the foundation to provide the shipboard systems necessary to support the safety, security, and protection of the D5 missiles and their readiness to launch on order. Throughout the 2020’s, SSP will lead the efforts to build the next generation of flight systems that will provide both the missile and reentry systems necessary to demonstrate a highly capable, reliable, flexible, agile, resilient, survivable, and lethal nuclear weapon system that continues to provide SBSD 2084, promoting world stability and deterrence of Strategic Conflict.

The Trident II D5LE weapon system will provide the foundation for U.S. SBSD and UK CASD flight systems through the 2040s, with the final D5LE missile scheduled to be retired in 2049. Recognizing the gradual reduction in D5LE inventory through test flights and routine aging of critical safety components, SSP must provide the nation with a modified flight system, designated the Trident II D5LE2 missile. The D5LE2 missile will be designed to leverage the current stockpile warheads and reentry bodies of the W76/W88 and Mk4/Mk5 families while also incorporating the new W93/Mk7 warhead and reentry body assembly that will reduce stockpile risks and provide broadened targeting options to U.S. Strategic Command.

An unarmed Trident II D5LE missile launches from the Ohio-class ballistic missile submarine USS Wyoming (SSBN 742) off the coast of Cape Canaveral, Florida, during Demonstration and Shakedown Operation (DASO) 31. This launch was part of the U.S. Navy Strategic Systems Program’s DASO certification process. The primary objective of DASO is to evaluate and demonstrate the readiness of the SSBN’s Strategic Weapon System (SWS) and crew before operational deployment following the submarine’s engineered refueling overhaul.

USS Wyoming Completes Successful Demonstration and Shakedown Operation

An unarmed Trident II D5 missile launches from the Ohio-class ballistic missile submarine USS Maryland (SSBN 738) off the coast of Florida. The test launch was part of the U.S. Navy Strategic Systems Program’s 27th Demonstration and Shakedown Operation (DASO-27) certification process. The successful DASO launch certified the readiness of the SSBN crew and the operational performance of the submarine’s strategic weapons system before returning to operational availability.

USS Maryland Completes Successful Demonstration and Shakedown Operation

An unarmed Trident II D5 missile launches from the Ohio-class ballistic missile submarine USS Nebraska (SSBN 739) off the coast of California. The test launch was part of the U.S. Navy Strategic Systems Program’s demonstration and shakedown operation (DASO) 28. The successful launch certified the readiness of the SSBN crew and the operational performance of the submarine’s strategic weapons system before returning to operational availability.

USS Nebraska Conducts Successful Demonstration and Shakedown Operation

An unarmed Trident II D5 Life Extension (D5LE) missile launches from Ohio-class ballistic missile submarine USS Nebraska (SSBN 739) off the coast of San Diego, California. The four launches conducted during this exercise were part of a U.S. Navy Commander Evaluation Test (CET), validating performance expectations of the Trident II D5LE strategic weapon system (SWS) on boats that are strategically deployed, and this particular test concluded the D5LE CET population flights for the Ohio-class SSBN. Future tests will be Follow-on Commander Evaluation Tests (FCET) and are required as part of rigorous readiness testing through the remainder of the Ohio-class SSBN service life to ensure the SWS remains fully capable on strategically deployed boats. During this era of global strategic competition, the viability of the current SWS remains vital to the Navy’s overall mission of Sea Based Strategic Deterrence (SBSD) ensuring the most sustainable leg of the U.S. nuclear triad. As the nuclear triad modernizes, the new Columbia-class SSBN—which is designed to provide SBSD capability into the year 2084—will be initially outfitted with the D5LE SWS. Each new Columbia-class boat will complete a Demonstration and Shakedown Operation (DASO) as part of the process to certify the boat for the strategic deterrence mission.

USS Kentucky Conducts Successful Demonstration and Shakedown Operation

The Ohio-class ballistic missile submarine USS Wyoming (SSBN 742) departs from Cape Canaveral, Florida for Demonstration and Shakedown Operation (DASO) 31. The primary objective of DASO is to evaluate and demonstrate the readiness of the SSBN’s Strategic Weapon System (SWS) and crew before operational deployment following the submarine’s engineered refueling overhaul.

USS Wyoming Conducts Strategic Weapons System Readiness Operation

Sailors assigned to the Ohio-class ballistic missile submarine USS Wyoming (SSBN 742) track an unarmed Trident II D5LE missile during Demonstration and Shakedown Operation (DASO) 31. The primary objective of DASO is to evaluate and demonstrate the readiness of the SSBN’s Strategic Weapon System (SWS) and crew before operational deployment following the submarine’s engineered refueling overhaul.

Sailors Execute Successful DASO Aboard USS Wyoming

The first COLUMBIA will execute her Demonstrated Shakedown and Operations (DASO) for weapons system certification in 2028 using the D5LE system and embark on the first COLUMBIA Class alert patrol in FY31. COLUMBIA Class Hulls 1-8 will leverage the proven Trident II D5LE system, allowing SSP to introduce the new D5LE2 weapon system on a COLUMBIA class platform that will have been proven for a decade at the point of D5LE2 introduction on Hull 9. Through the 2040s, SSP will then help oversee the commissioning of the final COLUMBIA Class SSBNs with the CMC and D5LE2 system, while backfitting Hulls 1-8 during routine maintenance periods executed through 2049.

To achieve this transition while meeting the assumptions and requirements of the COLUMBIA Class program, investment into the research and development of new technologies for D5LE2 is essential now and throughout the 2020s to inform the milestones of System Requirements Review in 2025, Preliminary Design Review in 2028 and the Critical Design Review in 2032. Low-Rate Initial Production (LRIP) will commence in 2034 to enable both a buildup of the production industrial base as well as to provide test bodies to execute a series of land-based pad testing from Cape Canaveral culminating in at sea flight testing from an SSBN in 2036. This gradual buildup of production capability simultaneously executed with D5LE2 flight testing will support the inventory requirements of full boat loadouts starting in 2039 without having to invest in excess production capacity that would support significant production over a short period of time but wasted resources in the long term.

The Reentry Systems team at SSP will complement the Missile Branch’s efforts through the 2020s and 2030s to build more capability and resilience into the Navy’s stockpile of nuclear weapons. While maintaining surveillance and oversight of the W76/W88 families of warheads, SSP will lead efforts in conjunction with the National Nuclear Security Administration within the Department of Energy under the interagency Nuclear Weapons Life Cycle process to design, develop, and produce the W93/Mk7 warhead and reentry system as well as the Next Nuclear Warhead (NNW) to life extend or replace the W88-0/Mk5 ALT 370 system.

Ultimately, all of these efforts are intended to meet the dynamic and uncertain demands of evolving future threats through 2084. Strategic Systems Programs will leverage the existing margin with D5LE to support current and future warheads (W76/W88/W93) until 2039. At that time, SSP will introduce D5LE2 which will utilize state of the art materials and avionics architectures to unlock additional capabilities required to support the payloads of the future.