Delivery Systems & Nuclear Triad

Northrop Grumman has been chosen to build the Air Force’s next-generation long-range bomber, a major aircraft manufacturing contract that is worth an estimated $80 billion. The incumbent manufacturer of the B-2 Spirit bomber beat out a heavyweight team comprised of Boeing and Lockheed Martin. The contract award will significantly shape the defense aerospace industry for […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 09/25/2015 Funding the $100 billion Ohio Replacement (OR) amid an austere federal budget environment is the leading challenge facing new Chief of Naval Operations Adm. John Richardson, according to House Armed Services Seapower and Projection Forces Subcommittee Ranking Member Joe Courtney (D-Conn.). Richardson will need to provide “thoughtful and creative solutions” […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 09/25/2015 A continuing budget resolution set for three months or longer would likely affect the early acquisition stages for the $62.3 billion Ground-Based Strategic Deterrent, even though the program is not a new start, Air Force spokesman Ed Gulick said by email on Monday. Continuing resolutions freeze federal funding at the […]

A continuing budget resolution set for three months or longer would likely affect the early acquisition stages for the Ground-Based Strategic Deterrent, even though the program is not a new start, Air Force spokesman Ed Gulick said by email yesterday. Continuing resolutions freeze federal funding at the previous year’s spending levels, and do not allow […]

Funding the $100 billion Ohio-class Replacement (OR) amidst an austere federal budget environment is the biggest challenge facing new Chief of Naval Operations Adm. John Richardson, and House Armed Services Seapower & Projection Forces Ranking Member Joe Courtney (Conn.) is looking for new Chief of Naval Operations Adm. John Richardson to provide “thoughtful and creative […]

Alissa Tabirian NS&D Monitor 9/18/2015 The first of 30 operational B-52H bombers has been converted “from a nuclear to a conventional only capability aircraft” at Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana, Air Force Global Strike Command announced yesterday. The conversion process, which “preserves the full conventional capabilities of the B-52,” is intended to ensure U.S. […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 09/18/2015 The Air Force on Sept. 11 issued its second request for information for the Ground-Based Strategic Deterrent, sending the acquisition effort closer to liftoff. The RFI notes the Air Force is seeking a “modular systems architecture, within the constraints of nuclear surety and cybersecurity.” Pentagon acquisition brass are pursuing integration […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 9/18/2015 The managers of the Navy’s Trident 2 D5 program and the Air Force’s soon-to-start acquisition of the Ground-Based Strategic Deterrent will by Oct. 17 brief key Defense Department brass on a 2 1/2-month-old study examining commonalities that can be implemented across the two weapon systems. Navy Strategic Systems Programs (SSP) […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 9/18/2015 Air Force Global Strike Command remains on track to by Oct. 1 take in an additional 9,500 personnel and 63 aircraft through absorbing the 377th Air Base Wing, along with the long-range strike bomber and B-1 programs, AFGSC Vice Commander Maj. Gen. Michael Fortney said during a speech in Washington […]

Navy Strategic Systems Programs has awarded Lockheed Martin Mission Systems and Training a sole-source, undefinitized maximum-value $31.6 million contract action for Trident 2 Navigation Subsystem Strategic Systems Program Shipboard Integration Increment 8 efforts, the Defense Department announced yesterday. Work is expected to complete by May 15. Fiscal 2015 “other procurement” funds will finance the entire […]

Alissa Tabirian NS&D Monitor 9/11/2015 The role of the Long Range Strike Bomber (LRS-B) should expand to include sensor-shooter aircraft functions, according to a former Air Force general. “It’s now possible to incorporate sensors, processing and avionics in a single aircraft at a fraction of what it used to cost us to do the same […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 09/11/2015 The Air Force plans to release a draft Concept of Operations (CONOPS) for the Ground-Based Strategic Deterrent around Oct. 15, service spokesman Eric Elliott confirmed Wednesday. NS&D Monitor reported last week that the Air Force plans to distribute copies to defense contractors in October or November. The CONOPS is still […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 9/4/15 The Air Force will not release a draft concept of operations (CONOPS) for the Ground-Based Strategic Deterrent at the weapon program’s third industry day scheduled for late September, but plans to distribute copies to defense contractors in October or November, Weapons Complex Morning Briefing has learned. “[T]he Air Force will […]

Alissa Tabirian NS&D Monitor 9/4/2015 Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Ranking Member Jack Reed (D-R.I.) last week sent a letter to Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter expressing concern over the Department of Defense’s (DoD) “unacceptable” errors in estimating the 10-year cost of the Air Force’s Long Range Strike Bomber (LRS-B) aircraft. […]

Alissa Tabirian NS&D Monitor 9/4/2015 The Department of Defense (DoD) on Aug. 28 said it awarded Boeing Co. a $46,719,474 contract for seven Combat Network Communication Technology (CONECT) upgrade kits and support equipment for the Air Force’s long-range B-52 bomber. According to the announcement, "this contract also provides for 21 retrofit kits to convert previously […]

Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Ranking Member Jack Reed (D-R.I.) last week sent a letter to Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter expressing concern over the Department of Defense’s (DOD) “unacceptable” errors in estimating the 10-year cost of the Air Force’s Long Range Strike Bomber (LRS-B) aircraft. The Air Force in its annual report […]

The Department of Defense (DOD) has awarded Boeing Co. $46,719,474 for seven Combat Network Communication Technology upgrade kits and support equipment for the U.S. Air Force’s long-range strategic B-52 bomber, the DOD announced last Friday. According to the announcement, "this contract also provides for 21 retrofit kits to convert previously purchased B-52 Combat Network Communication […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 8/28/15 The top officer and top civilian of the Air Force on Monday said neither a continuing resolution nor the service’s incorrect estimate of the Long-Range Strike Bomber’s research, procurement, and support costs in its two latest annual reports to Congress would affect internal planning for the new aircraft. “The mistake […]

Brian Bradley  NS&D Monitor  8/28/2015 Hill Air Force Base, Utah, will host an industry day for the Air Force’s Ground-Based Strategic Deterrent acquisition program from Sept. 24 to 25, according to an Aug. 20 FedBizOpps posting. The GBSD Program Management Office (PMO) intends to hold a more “in-depth technical discussion” and provide acquisition updates since the […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 8/28/15 The Crane (Ind.) Division of the Naval Surface Warfare Center (NSWC) has awarded Teradyne Inc., of North Reading, Mass., a sole-source $25 million firm-fixed price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite quantity contract for the purchase of Trident 2 D5 testers, spares, instrument calibration, software, cables, and engineering, technical, and factory support services, the Defense […]

The Crane (Ind.) Division of the Naval Surface Warfare Center has awarded Teradyne, Inc., of North Reading, Mass., a sole-source $25 million firm-fixed price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite quantity contract for the purchase of Trident 2 D5 testers, spares, instrument calibration, software, cables, and engineering, technical, and factory support services, the Defense Department announced yesterday. The testers will […]

The top enlisted and top civilian Air Force officials on Monday said that the service’s misestimate of the Long Range Strike-Bomber’s research, procurement and support costs in its two most recent annual reports to congress has not and will not affect internal Pentagon planning for the new aircraft. “The mistake was a regrettable error, but […]

Hill AFB, Utah, will host an industry day for the Air Force’s Ground-Based Strategic Deterrent acquisition program from Sept. 24 to 25, according to an Aug. 20 FedBizOpps posting. The GBSD Program Management Office (PMO) intends to hold a more “in-depth technical discussion,”  and provide acquisition updates since the last industry day in February. This […]

The 91st Missile Wing of Minot AFB on Wednesday successfully test launched a Minuteman 3 intercontinental ballistic missile from Vandenberg AFB, 45 years to the day after the wing put the first Minuteman 3s on alert, according to an Air Force press release. The Minot team worked with members of the 576th Flight Test Squadron […]

Brian Bradley  NS&D Monitor  8/7/2015 The Air Force aims for the Ground-Based Strategic Deterrent to reach initial operational capacity with nine missiles by fiscal 2029, and to achieve full operating capacity with a force of 400 missiles in fiscal 2036, according to the acquisition schedule obtained by NS&D Monitor. Last week, NS&D Monitor reported that […]

Brian Bradley  NS&D Monitor  8/7/2015 The concurrent timeline for building the Ohio Replacement ballistic missile submarine will impact the industrial base for the smaller Virginia-class fast-attack submarines, and Huntington Ingalls Industries is talking with the government about how to best complete concurrent work on both vessels as efficiently as possible, HII CEO Mike Petters said […]

Alissa Tabirian NS&D Monitor 8/7/2015 The United States’ Long-Range Strike Bomber, the Ohio-class submarine replacement, and the Ground-Based Strategic Deterrent (GBSD) programs are the main fuel of potential budget overruns for the U.S. nuclear forces, according to newly released projections from the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments (CSBA).  These programs will “drive the potential […]

The Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments’ (CSBA) newly released projections of the cost of maintaining and modernizing U.S. nuclear forces identify the Long-Range Strike Bomber, the Ohio-class ballistic missile submarine replacement, and the Ground-Based Strategic Deterrent (GBSD) programs as the greatest drivers of potential cost overruns. These three programs “are going to drive the […]

The Ground-Based Strategic Deterrent is expected to enter Milestone B, the Engineering and Manufacturing Development (EMD) phase of Defense Department acquisition, in fiscal 2020, then the Air Force is expected to down-select from two to one contract for the program’s procurement phase expected to begin in fiscal 2024, according to the service’s proposed acquisition schedule […]

Brian Bradley  NS&D Monitor  7/31/2015 The Ohio-class Replacement (OR) was one of two main drivers for General Dynamics’ 5.5 percent revenue increase from the second quarter of fiscal 2014 to the second quarter of fiscal 2015, as sales rose from $7.5 billion to $7.9 billion, company officials said this week. GD CEO Phebe Novakovic said […]