Northrop Grumman has been awarded a US$13.3 billion contract by the US Air Force, to modernise the country’s ageing ground-based intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) systems.
The Air Force Nuclear Weapons Centre announced that the effort will span 8.5 years and include weapon system design, qualification, test and evaluation and nuclear certification for the engineering and manufacturing development (EMD) phase of the Ground Based Strategic Deterrent (GBSD) program.
Upon successful completion of EMD, the Northrop Grumman team will begin producing and delivering a modern and fully integrated weapon system to meet the Air Force schedule of initial operational capability by 2029.
Kathy Warden, chairman, chief executive and president of Northrop Grumman, said, “Our nation is facing a rapidly evolving threat environment and protecting our citizens with a modern strategic deterrent capability has never been more critical.
The EMD award follows a highly successful three-year technology maturation and risk reduction (TMRR) phase-one effort under the GBSD competition.
The Northrop Grumman team has demonstrated innovation and agility by applying a digital engineering approach and has achieved all TMRR design review milestones on time and on cost.
“With more than 65 years of technical leadership on every ICBM system, our nationwide team is honoured and committed to continuing our partnership with the US Air Force to deliver a safe, secure and effective system that will contribute to global stability for years to come,” Warden explained.
Work on the program will be performed at the Northrop Grumman GBSD facilities in Roy and Promontory, Utah, as well as other key Northrop Grumman sites across the US that include Huntsville and Montgomery, Alabama; Colorado Springs, Colorado; Bellevue, Nebraska; San Diego and Woodland Hills, California; Chandler, Arizona; Annapolis Junction, Maryland; and at its nationwide team locations across the country.
The Northrop Grumman GBSD team includes Aerojet Rocketdyne, Bechtel, Clark Construction, Collins Aerospace, General Dynamics, HDT Global, Honeywell, Kratos Defense and Security Solutions, L3Harris, Lockheed Martin, Textron Systems, as well as hundreds of small and medium-sized companies from across the defence, engineering and construction industries.
The USAF’s GBSD is the weapon system replacement for the ageing LGM-30 Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile system (ICBM). GBSD represents the modernisation of the ground-based leg of the nuclear triad.
The Minuteman III first became operational in the early 1970s.
While certain components and subsystems have been upgraded, most of the fundamental infrastructure in use today is the original equipment supporting more than 50 years of continuous operation.
The Air Force is focused on developing and delivering an integrated weapon system that will meet the combatant commander’s current requirements, while having the adaptability to affordably address changing technology and emerging threats through 2075.
Overall, the GBSD program will involve over 10,000 people across the US directly working on this vital national security program.
Written by Stephen Kuper
