Draper awarded $132.9M for Trident missile guidance upgrades

March 1 (UPI) -- The U.S. Navy has awarded Charles Stark Draper Laboratory Inc. a $132.9 million modification to a previous contract for the Trident D5 MK6 guidance system.

The modified contract, announced Wednesday by the Department of Defense, is for failure verification, test, repair and recertification of inertial measurement units, electronic assemblies and electronic modules for the U.S. and British Trident systems.

With the maximum value of all options, the contract is worth $370 million.

The company plans to finish the work by Jan. 30, 2021, at its headquarters in Cambridge, Mass., as well as Minneapolis, Minn., Clearwater, Fla., and Pittsfield, Mass.

The Trident II Weapons System is the U.S. and British's primary submarine-launched nuclear ballistic missile fleet. Nearly half of the U.S. strategic warheads are on 14 U.S. Navy Ohio-class submarines, as do four Royal Navy Vanguard-class subs.

Draper is the prime contractor for the Trident Life Extension boost guidance. The Trident II D5, named for the three-pronged spear of mythology's King Neptune, was developed by Lockheed Martin.

A program is currently underway to extend the life of the system until 2040.

Funding will be provided by the the Navy's fiscal 2017 weapons procurement of $114.7 million and United Kingdom funds of $18.1 million, none of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year.

The contract activity was by the Strategic Systems Programs, in Washington, D.C.