Air Force Global Strike Command (AFGSC) is exploring the use of digital high frequency (DHF) nuclear command, control, and communications (NC3) for the future Sentinel missile by Northrop Grumman.
DHF would avoid electronic jamming and use of satellites and have high data rate transmission, according to an Air Force notice on its market research.
This comes as the LGM-35A intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), set to replace the Boeing Minuteman III next decade, nears a planned engineering and manufacturing development (EMD) re-certification decision by the end of the year.
The service plans to field Sentinel in 2033 to replace Minuteman III (MMIII) and may integrate DHF for Sentinel NC3 between 2031 and 2033, depending on technology maturity.
“As the Air Force prepares to migrate from MMIII (analog environment) to Sentinel (digital
environment) we need to examine how the NC3 systems will adapt to the Sentinel environment, which could include new systems,” according to a Monday business notice. “AFGSC is seeking a solution on terrestrial NC3. This market research seeks to understand how Sentinel missile operations could benefit from incorporating DHF systems into its NC3 architecture. Proposed systems will be required to operate in all environments (pre, trans, and post).”
“High Frequency (HF) radio (between 3 and 30 MHz) can be used to transmit digital data, such as text, images, and emails, instead of traditional voice,” the notice continued. “Using digital to analog converters, along with software, connected to a HF radio, the software translates digital inputs into specific audio tones the radio transmits. One benefit is HF digital modes can ‘hear’ signals buried deep in atmospheric noise which humans normally miss.”
Last month, Northrop Grumman CEO Kathy Warden said that a recent Sentinel acoustic test by the company “validated the system can withstand the intense conditions of a silo launch.”
Also last month, Northrop Grumman said that it is adding hundreds of jobs to the 5,000 the company now has working on Sentinel.
A ground breaking on a new building at the Roy Innovation Center (RIC) in Utah “brings the RIC campus to a total of six state-of-the-art buildings and more than 1.1 million square feet of office space,” according to Northrop Grumman. “Construction of the new ‘Legacy Building’ begins this summer and will be completed by 2028.”
The Air Force is restructuring the Sentinel program after a critical Nunn-McCurdy cost breach in January 2024 led to a revocation of Sentinel’s 2020 EMD certification, and the Government Accountability Office’s annual weapon systems assessment last month said that the program faces considerable uncertainty amid ongoing design maturation, the complexity of building missile infrastructure across multiple states, and supply chain and workforce challenges that could further affect cost and schedule.
The report indicates Sentinel remains one of the Defense Department’s highest-risk acquisition efforts despite the restructuring process intended to stabilize the program.
“Over the past five years, Northrop Grumman has invested $13.5 billion in infrastructure and R&D, including $2 billion dedicated to solid rocket motor capacity and capabilities, that accelerate and scale production for the Sentinel program and strengthen the broader strategic deterrence and space launch industrial base,” Northrop Grumman said.
Leonardo DRS on Aug. 4 announced it signed an agreement to build a new facility in Brookfield, Conn., to expand and consolidate operations for its Naval Power Systems businesses and ultimately help increase throughput.
The new site will provide 141,087 square feet of space and combine operations currently spread across three locations in Danbury and Bethel, Conn. It expects to potentially start limited occupancy at the site later this year, with full initial occupancy expected in early 2027.
“By bringing these operations together in Brookfield, we are strengthening collaboration, improving efficiency, and creating the foundation needed to support continued growth across naval nuclear propulsion and the broader nuclear energy market,” John Baylouny, CEO of Leonardo DRS, said in a statement.
Exchange Monitor affiliate Defense Daily first published a version of this story.