Ballistic-Missile Submarine USS Rhode Island Launches Missile Off Port Canaveral

By Space Coast Daily // May 10, 2019

part of a Demonstration and Shakedown Operation

TRIDENT MISSILE TEST OFF PORT: The Ohio-class ballistic-missile submarine USS Rhode Island, along with the U.S. Navy’s Strategic Systems Programs, conducted the successful test flight of an unarmed Trident II D5 missile off PortCanaveral on Thursday, May 9. (U.S. Navy image)

BREVARD COUNTY • PORT CANAVERAL, FLORIDA – The U.S. Navy launched an unarmed ballistic missile off the coast of Port Canaveral on Thursday hours after North Korea fired two short-range missiles, its second weapons launch in five days.

The USS Rhode Island is a United States Navy Ohio-class ballistic missile submarine which has been in commission since 1994.

Pentagon spokeswoman Laura Seal confirmed in a statement that the Navy’s Strategic Systems Programs launched an unarmed Trident II (D5) missile from the USS Rhode Island off the coast of Cape Canaveral, Fla., as a part of a Demonstration and Shakedown Operation.

While the exact range of the missiles is classified, it’s likely that it flew 7,000 miles, officials told Fox News.

The U.S. Navy launched an unarmed ballistic missile off the coast of Port Canaveral on Thursday hours after North Korea fired two short-range missiles, its second weapons launch in five days.