Five organizations are being tasked with developing missile prototype designs for the nuclear-armed, sea-launched cruise missile program, according to an emailed press release by the National Security Technology Accelerator.
The contracting platform National Security Technology Accelerator (NSTXL), upon inquiry from the Exchange Monitor, said Leidos, Raytheon, Lockheed Martin, and Northrop Grumman were awarded as prime contractors for flight system integration and missile development, while Florida Turbine Technologies was awarded for missile technologies development.
The opportunity, offered Aug. 22, was awarded by the Naval Surface Warfare Center, Crane Division and Navy Strategic Systems Programs, both U.S. Navy installations. The Navy first released the draft Request for Solution for prototype design in May.
A planned nuclear-armed, sea-launched cruise missile (SLCM-N) would be deployed on the Virginia-class submarines and would include a variant of the W80-4 air-launched cruise missile warhead. The W80-4 is something the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) is already working on.
The fiscal 2024 National Defense Authorization Act directed the Navy and the NNSA to develop and deploy SLCM-N by 2034. The W80-4 warhead, which faced some delays in 2022, is currently “on schedule,” a senior official at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory told the Exchange Monitor in December. Even so, last summer then-NNSA Administrator Jill Hruby said the agency was also looking at other possible warhead fits if delays persist.
