Overview

• Navy officials said four unarmed Trident II D5 missiles were tested Sept. 17–21 from an Ohio‑class submarine off Florida and described the launches as scheduled and unrelated to ongoing events.
• One launch illuminated the night sky and was seen from Puerto Rico, with the Navy reporting successful shots conducted under safety protocols and splashdowns in the Atlantic.
• The Trident II D5 is a nuclear‑capable submarine‑launched ballistic missile with an estimated range of up to about 12,000 kilometers, though these tests used no warheads.
• The timing overlaps with a sustained U.S. presence in the Caribbean that includes at least eight warships, a Los Angeles‑class attack submarine, and F‑35B aircraft deployed to Puerto Rico for counternarcotics missions.
• Venezuela condemned the U.S. operations as an attempt to pressure Nicolás Maduro, and analysts questioned whether the scale of the deployment signals political intent rather than purely drug interdiction, with media also noting overlap with the Navy’s UNITAS 2025 exercises.