Jamie Bennet
Northrop Grumman marked the completion of its two thousandth solid rocket motor of the UGM-133A Trident II submarine-launched ballistic missile.
The company said Thursday it finished manufacturing more than 800 units each of the first-stage A1000 and second-stage B1000 motors for the U.S. Navy.
Northrop has been supplying the motors to SLBM developer Lockheed Martin for 70 years. The solid-propulsion motors are designed for the Trident II’s three boost stages.
Aside from the A1000 and B1000 units, Northrop has also delivered over 370 third-stage tactical motors and cast more than 86 million pounds of propellant.
U.S. Navy Vice Adm. Johnny Wolfe, director for strategic systems programs, was in attendance during the assembly and casting of the Trident II D5 motors in Bacchus, Utah, to commemorate the milestone with the Virginia-based defense contractor.
