Boeing remains prime on US Minuteman ICBM guidance system

The USAF has selected Boeing as prime contractor for the US's intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) guidance subsystem support.

The contract, announced on 1 February, is worth up to $1.6 billion over 16 years and will be primarily performed in Utah and Ohio.

Boeing said it will maintain the ‘around-the-clock readiness and accuracy’ of the Minuteman ICBM guidance system to ensure safe, secure and effective strategic deterrence into the late 2030s.

The guidance system has logged more than 40 million hours of continuous operation.

‘We built the Minuteman’s guidance system, so no one knows it like Boeing. Our highly specialised facilities and top-flight engineers enable us to sustain it with unmatched quality and precision,’ Ted Kerzie, programme director of Strategic Deterrence Systems at Boeing, noted in a statement.

‘We look forward to continuing our partnership with the air force on this all-important mission.’

BAE Systems is also supporting the US's ICBM efforts. Last summer the USAF Nuclear Weapon Center awarded the company a contract with a potential value of $12 billion to continue providing integration and engineering services for ICBMs.

Work on this contract is expected to be completed at Hill AFB, Utah, by December 2040.

The main function of the Integration Support Contract (ISC) 2.0 is to support the LGM-30 Minuteman III, the next-generation LGM-35A Sentinel missile and any future ICBM developed during the term of the contract.

BAE Systems has acted as the prime contractor for the ISC since 2013.