Delivery Systems & Nuclear Triad

Prime contractor Northrop Grumman will continue its work on the Air Force’s nuclear-tipped, silo-based LGM-35A Sentinel missile as the service and Pentagon acquisition chief William LaPlante consider how to restructure the program, an Air Force official said Monday. “Work can still continue under the contract that exists today,” Lt. Gen. Andrew Gebara, the Air Force’s […]

Prime contractor Northrop Grumman will continue its work on the Air Force’s nuclear-tipped, silo-based LGM-35A Sentinel missile as the service and Pentagon acquisition chief William LaPlante consider how to restructure the program, an Air Force official said Monday. “Work can still continue under the contract that exists today,” Lt. Gen. Andrew Gebara, the Air Force’s […]

President Joe Biden (D) signed a bill into law this week to ease deployment domestically and internationally of U.S. nuclear reactors and technology. The Advanced Nuclear for Clean Energy (ADVANCE) Act would reform the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s methods for issuing licenses and require the Department of Energy to study the global nuclear industry and tell […]

The Air Force’s next-generation nuclear-tipped, silo-based intercontinental ballistic missile will continue but will be drastically restructured amid further cost increases and schedule delays announced Monday by the Department of Defense. The new overall cost estimate for Sentinel is $140.9 billion: 81% higher than the September 2020 estimate when the program entered its manufacturing phase and […]

The Senate Armed Services Committee wants a report from the Air Force and Pentagon about the possible deployment of 450, rather than 400, Sentinel intercontinental ballistic missiles. The lawmakers asked for the study in a bill report published the same week the Department of Defense announced further cost overruns and developmental delays for LGM-35A Sentinel, […]

The Senate Armed Services Committee wants a report from the Air Force and Pentagon about the possible deployment of 450, rather than 400, Sentinel intercontinental ballistic missiles. The lawmakers asked for the study in a bill report published the same week the Department of Defense announced further cost overruns and developmental delays for LGM-35A Sentinel, […]

The Air Force’s next-generation nuclear-tipped, silo-based intercontinental ballistic missile will continue but will be drastically restructured amid further cost increases and schedule delays announced Monday by the Department of Defense.  The new overall cost estimate for Sentinel is $140.9 billion: 81% higher than the September 2020 estimate when the program entered its manufacturing phase and […]

Editor’s note: the story first appeared in Exchange Monitor affiliate publication Defense Daily. On June 24, U.S. Air Force Maj. Gen. John Newberry, the head of the Air Force Nuclear Weapons Center at Kirtland AFB, N.M., dismissed Air Force Col. Charles Clegg, the head of the Sentinel Systems Directorate at Hill AFB, Utah since the […]

Editor’s note: the story first appeared in Weapons Complex Monitor affiliate publication Defense Daily. On June 24, U.S. Air Force Maj. Gen. John Newberry, the head of the Air Force Nuclear Weapons Center at Kirtland AFB, N.M., dismissed Air Force Col. Charles Clegg, the head of the Sentinel Systems Directorate at Hill AFB, Utah since […]

The House considered, and passed 217-199, a version of the fiscal 2025 National Defense Authorization Act this week that includes a provision to restore nuclear capabilities to the B-52 bomber, but not an amendment restoring the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act. Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Ala., on behalf of Rep. August Pfluger (R-Texas), proposed an amendment Wednesday […]

The House Appropriations Committee is recommending a $324 million cut to the U.S. Air Force’s research and development request of $3.7 billion for the Northrop Grumman LGM-35A Sentinel future intercontinental ballistic missile. “This decrease is the result of insufficient justification and program uncertainty for execution needs in fiscal year 2025,” according to the House Appropriations […]

The House Rules Committee passed its version of the 2025 National Defense Authorization Act 217-199 on Friday after a three-day debate among members on around 350 amendments. The bill includes provisions that restore the B-52 bomber’s nuclear capabilities, codifies the National Nuclear Security Administration as the lead in strategizing against smuggling nuclear materials, and requires […]

The House Rules Committee voted Wednesday to consider a version of the fiscal 2025 National Defense Authorization Act that includes a provision to restore nuclear capabilities to the B-52 bomber, but not an amendment restoring the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act. Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Ala.), on behalf of Rep. August Pfluger (R-Texas), proposed an amendment to […]

The U.S. Air Force B-21 Raider stealth bomber by Northrop Grumman is exempt from a Title 10 requirement that a defense secretary seek a waiver for a low-rate initial production buy of more than 10 percent of total production for a Major Defense Acquisition Program, the Department of Defense said. The Department of the Air […]

Air Force Global Strike Command Airmen and Space Force Guardians launched an unarmed Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile, equipped with one re-entry vehicle, Tuesday morning. The test is part of a series of over 300 tests of the missile and is meant to to showcase the strength of the deterrent, according to a press release. […]

The U.S. Air Force B-21 Raider stealth bomber by Northrop Grumman is exempt from a Title 10 requirement that a defense secretary seek a waiver for a low-rate initial production buy of more than 10 percent of total production for a Major Defense Acquisition Program, the Department of Defense said. The Department of the Air […]

Air Force Global Strike Command Airmen and Space Force Guardians launched an unarmed Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile, equipped with one re-entry vehicle, Tuesday morning. The test is part of a series of over 300 tests of the missile and is meant to to showcase the strength of the deterrent, according to a press release.  […]

The House Armed Services Committee on Wednesday voted to keep legally binding  pit-production dates that the National Nuclear Security Administration does not believe it will meet. It was one of the few debates about nuclear weapons during Wednesday’s 12-hour markup of the 2025 National Defense Authorization Act, which the committee passed by 57-1 at about […]

Early Wednesday, lawmakers approved an amendment to study use of a Nunn-McCurdy-type oversight process for the National Nuclear Security Administration. In an uncontroversial en bloc amendment package to the 2025 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), Rep. John Garamendi (R-Ca.) proposed that the Nunn-McCurdy Act requirement to keep Congress appraised of major spikes in project costs […]

Early Wednesday, lawmakers approved an amendment to study use of a Nunn-McCurdy-type oversight process for the National Nuclear Security Administration. In an uncontroversial en bloc amendment package to the 2025 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), Rep. John Garamendi (R-Ca.) proposed that the Nunn-McCurdy Act requirement to keep Congress appraised of major spikes in project costs […]

The House Armed Services Committee on Wednesday voted to keep legally binding  pit-production dates that the National Nuclear Security Administration does not believe it will meet. It was one of the few debates about nuclear weapons during Wednesday’s 12-hour markup of the 2025 National Defense Authorization Act, which the committee passed by 57-1 at about […]

Early Wednesday, lawmakers approved an amendment to study use of a Nunn-McCurdy-type oversight process for the National Nuclear Security Administration.  In an uncontroversial en bloc amendment package to the 2025 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), Rep. John Garamendi (R-Ca.) proposed that the Nunn-McCurdy Act requirement to keep Congress appraised of major spikes in project costs […]

The schedule for one of Sentinel’s nuclear warheads will not change until at least the end of the Air Force’s review of the budget-busting missile, the head of the National Nuclear Security Administration said Tuesday. The civilian agency will stick to its current schedule for the W87-1 warhead throughout the Air Force’s ongoing Nunn-McCurdy review […]

The schedule for one of Sentinel’s nuclear warheads will not change until at least the end of the Air Force’s review of the budget-busting missile, the head of the National Nuclear Security Administration said Tuesday. The civilian agency will stick to its current schedule for the W87-1 warhead throughout the Air Force’s ongoing Nunn-McCurdy review […]

The Kansas City National Security Campus in March produced a proof-of-concept replacement fuse for an Air Force nuclear weapon, the Sandia National Laboratory said last week. The Missouri site cranked out the first production unit for the Mark 21 Replacement Fuze, Sandia said in a press release. After this unit clears several more reviews, the […]

The Kansas City National Security Campus in March produced a proof-of-concept replacement fuse for an Air Force nuclear weapon, the Sandia National Laboratory said last week.  The Missouri site cranked out the first production unit for the Mark 21 Replacement Fuze, Sandia said in a press release. After this unit clears several more reviews, the […]

The Air Force risks not meeting the 2036 fielding date for the next generation nuclear-tipped missile to replace the Minuteman III, Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.) said in a hearing this week.  “Quite frankly, we’re running against, from my perspective, some real time issues if we’re gonna get these replaced at the three [intercontinental ballistic missile] […]

The Department of the Air Force’s $217.5 billion fiscal 2025 budget includes $3.7 billion for the planned LGM-35A Sentinel ICBM as the department looks for cost savings and faces possible delays to address a Nunn-McCurdy breach.Such breaches occur when programs exceed 25% program acquisition unit cost growth.In January, the Air Force informed Congress of a […]

The Department of the Air Force’s $217.5 billion fiscal 2025 budget includes $3.7 billion for the planned LGM-35A Sentinel ICBM as the department looks for cost savings and faces possible delays to address a Nunn-McCurdy breach. Such breaches occur when programs exceed 25% program acquisition unit cost growth. In January, the Air Force informed Congress […]

Nuclear Naval reactor maker BWX Technologies is out of the submarine missile tube building business after completing its contracted work for the U.S. Navy and allied fleets in 2023, the company’s chief executive said on Feb. 27.  BWXT makes Common Missile Compartment tubes at its factory in Mount Vernon, Ind. The tubes are designed to […]