GBSD rebrand sees launch of Sentinel
Illustration of an LGM-35A Sentinel launch silo. (Image: USAF)
The LGM-35A Sentinel will replace the Minuteman III ICBM as a new land element of the US nuclear triad.
The USAF has officially renamed the Ground Based Strategic Deterrent as the LGM-35A Sentinel.
As the land element of the US nuclear triad, Sentinel will include a ‘fully integrated launch, flight and infrastructure system with modern command and control features’, the USAF noted in a 5 April statement.
Sentinel is designed to operate into the 2070s as a replacement for the LGM-30 Minuteman III intercontinental nuclear ballistic missile.
The new system will incorporate low-risk and ‘technically mature components’ in a modular architecture ‘that can easily incorporate emerging technology to adapt in rapidly evolving threat environments’, the USAF claimed, adding that Sentinel will be easier and cheaper to maintain than Minuteman.
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