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
-
Ukraine turns legacy Kongsberg land turrets into semi-autonomous USV weapons
The company told Shephard that Ukraine is operating modified Protector weapon stations originally supplied for armoured vehicles, with human operators authorising engagements from hundreds of kilometres away.
-
UK urged to prioritise sea, air and space over heavy armour
A report from the Council on Geostrategy argues the UK should move away from a traditional balanced force and shift investment to naval, air and space capabilities, backed by a larger fleet of attack submarines and deeper AUKUS integration.
-
Thales: deployment speed to determine winners in ‘production versus production’ era
At its technology summit in London, attended by Shephard, Thales UK examined the importance of speed to delivery, the growing focus on cross-domain capabilities and how procurement reform could be crucial for future battlefield advantage.
-
Orchestrating operational readiness across every defence domain
Are all systems ready for the next mission? Have upgrades been applied? Are all assets aligned to deploy together, on time and fully prepared? In modern defence operations, readiness is no longer measured platform by platform. It is measured by how well people, assets, data and decisions move together — across land, sea and air.