Breaking ground to pave the way for the next generation US Navy submarine-launched ballistic missile system

Photo By Bob Hall | VAdm. Johnny Wolfe Jr., director of Strategic Systems Programs, speaks with contractors who support the U.S. Navy’s submarine-launched ballistic missile system program during an All Hands gathering at the Naval Ordnance Test Unit pavilion on Feb. 5, 2026.  

UNITED STATES

02.10.2026

Story by Bob Hall 

Naval Ordnance Test Unit

For more than 70 years, the Naval Ordnance Test Unit has been instrumental in the development and testing of the U.S. Navy’s submarine-launched ballistic missile systems. The legacy continues as the U.S. Navy develops the next generation– the Trident II D-5 Life Extension 2, or D5LE2.
Successful fielding of the next generation of missiles requires more than people or new technology. State-of-the-art infrastructure to support the development is also required. On Feb. 4, 2026, NOTU hosted a groundbreaking ceremony for a major project to provide the necessary infrastructure.
Vice Adm. Johnny Wolfe Jr., director of Strategic Systems Programs, and Cmdr. Brian Purvis, executive office of NOTU, teamed up with representatives from Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command Southeast and Walsh Federal, LLC, from Chicago, Illinois, to officially break ground signifying the beginning of construction for NOTU’s Engineering Test Facility.
“This Engineering Test Facility represents a critical investment in the infrastructure that underpins our most vital mission,” Wolfe said. “This building will be a hub of innovation, a place where our talented engineers and scientists can develop and test cutting-edge technologies, ensuring our Sailors have the most accurate, reliable system at their disposal, modernizing the most survivable and effective leg of our nuclear triad for decades to come.”
The Engineering Test Facility, or ETF, will provide space for prototyping, development, testing, evaluation, and production of support equipment and flight hardware elements of the D5LE2 missile. The 130,000-square-foot facility on Cape Canaveral Space Force Station will include eight separate lab spaces, nine heavy-lift cranes, a backup generator, and administrative and other support spaces.
The contract to build this facility was awarded in November 2025 to Walsh Federal at $166 million and is scheduled for completion in January 2028.
In addition to the groundbreaking ceremony for the ETF, Wolfe and Purvis also marked the opening of the newly renovated sonobuoy building with a ribbon cutting ceremony. This building is the first in a multi-phase infrastructure modernization plan to refurbish, retrofit and restore existing aging structures already in the NOTU ecosystem.
“With this groundbreaking, we are making a direct and powerful investment in our program’s future,” said Capt. Doug Pratt, NOTU’s commanding officer. “This building is and will be a tangible addition to the Navy’s strategic deterrence capability – a place where industry, civilian, and military partners will forge the future of Trident D5LE2.”
Many of the current facilities NOTU and its contract partners occupy were built in the 1960s and many of those were last renovated in the 1980s to support development and testing of the Trident II D-5 missile system. NOTU is expected to complete 28 facilities projects from 2024 to 2032 to provide the infrastructure required to support sea-based deterrence development and modernization missions for decades to come.
NOTU is an integral part of the testing and evaluation capabilities and solutions for the US Navy’s strategic weapons systems. It directly supports mission capability and readiness of the Navy's ballistic missile submarines (SSBNs) as well as the strategic weapons systems programs – making NOTU a key component of the nation’s strategic deterrence mission.

• Date Taken: 02.10.2026
• Date Posted: 02.10.2026 13:26
• Story ID: 557847
• Location: US