Brian Bradley
NS&D Monitor
7/24/2015
The Air Force Nuclear Weapons Center has awarded BAE Systems a $11.1 million contract modification, which will effectively extend the company’s role as integration support contractor (ISC) for the Minuteman 3 on to the ICBM’s planned follow-on, the Ground-Based Strategic Deterrent, for at least one year, the Defense Department announced yesterday. BAE will provide schedule management, acquisition program documentation, program risk management, strategic planning, quality assurance, logistics planning, business and financial management, data rights, data management, systems engineering, trade studies, technical studies, and integration needs for the GBSD, according to the announcement. Work on this modification is expected to be complete by July 23, 2016; $712,674 in fiscal 2015 research, development, test, and evaluation funds are being obligated at the time of award.
BAE has worked as Minuteman 3 ISC through a $534.9 million contract since July 2013 under the Future ICBM Sustainment and Acquisition Construct (FISAC), a contracting vehicle managed by the Air Force and comprising separate contracts for sustaining the ICBMs’ guidance, ground, propulsion, and re-entry subsystems. As ISC, BAE serves as the Air Force’s chief technical advisor and support contractor for Minuteman 3 sustainment.
The service is expected to start RDT&E on the Minuteman 3 follow-on in the first quarter of fiscal 2016, with a hopeful rollout of a full 400-missile fleet by about 2030. The Senate defense appropriations bill for FY16 would match the Obama administration’s $75.2 million request for the project, but Democrats are blocking negotiation on the bill. The Future Years Defense Program estimates the GBSD will cost $945 million over the next five years. AFNWC’s System Program Office estimates GBSD will cost $62.3 billion from FY15 to FY44 for development, procurement, and military construction (MILCON) on 642 total missiles, 242 of which will presumably remain on nondeployed standby, service spokesman Ed Gulick told NS&D Monitor last month. Arms Control Today first reported the quantity the Air Force expects to procure.
The projected $62.3 billion includes $48.5 billion for flight systems, $6.9 billion for weapon system command and control (WSC2), and another $6.9 billion for infrastructure. The ICBM SPO’s draft projection also specifies estimates for the research and development and procurement phases of each GBSD component. The draft outlines $35.5 billion for procurement and $13 billion for R&D of flight systems; $3.7 billion for procurement and $3.2 billion for R&D of WSC2; and $5.9 billion for procurement, $0.7 billion for MILCON, and $0.3 billion for R&D of weapons infrastructure.
