Lockheed Martin and the U.S. Air Force have completed a flight test of an unarmed, developmental Mk21A reentry vehicle, launched from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California over the Pacific Ocean. Intended for the Air Force’s future intercontinental ballistic missile system, the Mk21A is being developed under a contract valued at more than $1 billion. Flight data will inform design refinements and further testing ahead of the system-level Critical Design Review.
Lockheed Martin described the test as a demonstration of the vehicle architecture’s maturity and a validation of next-generation reentry technologies. It did not disclose detailed test results, performance measurements or a schedule for the next test or programme milestones.
The Mk21A is designed as an upgrade to the legacy Mk21 reentry vehicle and is part of the planned modernisation of the U.S. land-based strategic nuclear force. Development has used digital engineering, modelling and simulation, alongside data from earlier tests. The latest flight remains a development test; it does not indicate that the reentry vehicle or the future missile system is operational.