Northrop Grumman to help keep Minuteman III going until 2040
The US Air Force Nuclear Weapons Center has awarded Northrop Grumman a $2.31 billion sole-source contract to provide Minuteman III engineering support and programme management support services.
The deal includes an 18.5-year ordering period for assistance to the intercontinental ballistic missile programme, meaning that work is expected to be completed by November 2040.
‘Work shall be in areas including, but not limited to sustaining engineering, maintenance engineering, modification of systems and equipment, hardware and software maintenance, developmental and production engineering, procurement, replenishment, repair and refurbishment’, the DoD announced on 20 April.
It added: ‘The primary focus shall be to identify ageing mechanism[s], anomalous behaviour, and ensure any modifications or changes to the system which shall maintain and/or improve system-level performance.’
Keeping all or part of the Minuteman III arsenal in service until 2040 means there will be some overlap with the new Ground Based Strategic Deterrent (GBSD) designed to replace the older ICBMs from the late 2020s.
As part of our promise to deliver comprehensive coverage to our Defence Insight and Premium News subscribers, our curated defence news content provides the latest industry updates, contract awards and programme milestones.
More from Defence Notes
-
US lawmakers warn that “more military spending is absolutely necessary” to ensure Pentagon’s readiness
The US Congress has raised concerns about how inflation rates and cuts in main acquisition programmes could affect the US military.
-
Can the US overcome Russian and Chinese nuclear capabilities?
Washington’s ageing inventory and the pace Moscow and Beijing have been modernising their capabilities put in check the US Nuclear deterrence.
-
US FY2024 funding package passes as China closes military capability gap
The Pentagon has been operating under temporary funding since October 2023, which has impacted its main acquisition and development programmes, increasing the capability gap between the US and China.
-
NATO outlines future challenges as Ukrainian funding from US stalls
In 2023, defence spending increased by an unprecedented 11% across European NATO countries and Canada. Since 2014, the group has spent an additional US$600 billion on defence.
-
US Pentagon to reduce investments in main acquisition programmes over FY2025
The DoD requested nearly US$850 billion to fund operations over the next fiscal year. Despite the amount being 1% higher than the FY2024 budget request, it has not covered the 3% inflation rate, which could impact the DoD’s main programmes in the medium and long term.