Draper awarded contract to support development of next generation Trident II Weapon System Under $2.2B Navy Contract

CAMBRIDGE, Mass.—Draper, a company with decades of service to the U.S. Navy, announced today a $2.2 billion contract to continue the support of the Trident II D5 weapon system while also beginning development on the next generation. Under the award, Draper will support the mission of the U.S. Navy Strategic Systems Programs to provide credible sea-based strategic deterrence. The company currently serves in that role as prime contractor for the Trident II D5 guidance system under a previous contract.

Dr. Jerry M. Wohletz, President and CEO at Draper, remarked, “Draper is proud of its long-standing relationship with U.S. Navy Strategic Systems Programs, and is excited to strengthen that partnership by supporting the modernization of the Trident weapon system to ensure its effectiveness in an era of great power competition for generations to come.”

Draper, as strategic guidance system prime contractor for Trident, provides critical domain knowledge and cradle-to-grave responsibility for the design, production, and sustainment of the Guidance component for both the U.S. and U.K. Submarine Launched Ballistic Missile Systems.  For more than 60 years Draper has played a critical part in ensuring that the Fleet Ballistic Missiles (FBMs) deployed by the Navy’s submarines are accurate, reliable and survivable to adversarial threats. Every FBM deployed by the Navy—from Polaris A1 to Trident II D5—has been equipped with Guidance Systems designed by Draper engineers. 

“This award enables us to continue to deliver on legacy while also marking the beginning of a multi-decade development for the next generation system that will ensure the nation has a credible nuclear deterrent for generations to come,” said Robert Bacon, Vice President of Navy Strategic Systems at Draper. “With an increasingly complex geopolitical environment our expertise will once again be called up to ensure we deliver credible capabilities that outpace the advancing threats from our adversaries”.

Work will be performed in Cambridge, Mass.; Pittsfield, Mass.; Washington, D.C; Odon, Ind.; El Segundo, Calif.; Cape Canaveral, Fla,; and St. Petersburg, Fla; and is expected to be completed by October 2028.

This contract is a sole source acquisition pursuant to 10 U.S.C. 3204(a)(1) and was previously synopsized on the Systems for Award Management website. Strategic Systems Programs, Washington, D.C., is the contracting activity.