A multi-year contract was awarded to Ducommun for the production of position sensors for the trident navigation system used on US and UK navies’ submarines. Ducommun will manufacture the resolvers –this is how such position sensors are known- for the US Navy’s Ohio-class and UK Royal Navy’s Vanguard-class submarines.
The US Navy’s Ohio-class submarines are virtually undetectable undersea launch platforms of intercontinental missiles. Armed with Lockheed Trident missile, the Ohio-class submarines feature an advanced SEAL delivery system (ASDS) and four 533mm torpedo tubes with an mk118 digital fire control system. Designed to carry 16 missile tubes and Trident II D5 nuclear missiles, the Vanguard-class submarines are equipped with two SSE Mark 10 launchers for deployment of Type 2066 and 2071 decoys. Currently, the US and UK navies use a total of 18 submarines of these classes.
“We designed and manufactured the original sensors in the early years of Polaris and Poseidon submarines, so we’re particularly pleased to continue to provide these motion control devices for the navy’s Trident nuclear submarine fleet” said Anthony J Reardon, Ducommun chairman and CEO. “This work builds upon our relationship with both Boeing and the US Navy, reflecting the reliability of our technology in position sensing and Ducommun’s efforts to continue to grow our military market presence.”
Ducommun’s facility in Carson, California, will have the task of the sensors’ construction from now on: the completion of the work is expected in 2017.
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