USAF orders Minuteman III sustainment services
Minuteman III pictured in a February 2021 operational test launch. (Photo: US Space Force/Tech Sgt Brittany Murphy)
Northrop Grumman announced on 10 June a $287 million baseline deal from the USAF to provide additional engineering sustainment services for the Minuteman III missile system under the Propulsion Subsystem Support Contract (PSSC) 2.0.
The work supports the USAF Minuteman III Systems Directorate at Hill Air Force Base, Utah.
PSSC 2.0 has a contract ceiling of $2.31 billion with options over a period of 18.5 years.
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.
The FY2022 DoD budget request includes $88.58 million specifically for modifications to the Minuteman III system.
More from Defence Notes
-
Eurosatory 2026: New public security needs drive personal protection equipment modernisation
European law enforcement and public security agencies are entering a new cycle of investment in personal protection equipment (PPE), driven by evolving threat profiles, officer welfare requirements and advances in materials technology.
-
Eurosatory 2026: Milrem Robotics puts forward multi-layered defence concept for NATO’s eastern flank
Autonomous systems developer Milrem has evolved a model for an interoperable robotised approach to the Eastern Flank Deterrence Initiative (EFDI), showing how uncrewed systems could provide a multi-layered defence architecture in the air and on land along NATO’s eastern borders.
-
Eurosatory 2026 to highlight changing defence and security priorities
Eurosatory 2026 will reflect a defence and security sector shaped by conflict, rising government spending, uncrewed systems, multidomain networks and growing demand for sovereign capabilities.
-
Delays, departures and drama cloud UK defence programmes ahead of absent DIP
The UK defence secretary’s departure suggests that the long-delayed Defence Investment Plan is unlikely to meet the funding demands of the armed forces, with consequences for procurement and the UK’s standing at a NATO summit weeks away.