Delivery Systems & Nuclear Triad

Prospective bidders of Reentry Field Support Equipment (RFSE) asked the Air Force about language in the original RFSE RFP stating that contractors were not allowed to incur any cost for work on RFSE Suites 2-6 until the government gave those companies an Authorization to Proceed (ATP), with the companies expressing concern that prohibition of advance […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 2/13/2015 In a four-team think tank exercise simulating defense budget planning in a tight fiscal environment, the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments (CSBA) maintained the nuclear triad even as the prospect of a tight fiscal environment has surfaced, a CSBA budget analyst told the House Armed Services Committee (HASC) on […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 2/13/2015 Bob Work, the Deputy Defense Secretary and Chairman of the Nuclear Deterrent Enterprise Review Group, highlighted strong airman morale while echoing officials’ concerns about aging facilities during his visit to Minot AFB this week, according to a Defense Department release. "Some of the stuff they’re doing is just amazing," Work […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 2/13/2015 The Air Force is extending by 21 days the response deadline for a Request for Proposals the service released on Jan. 13 for Reentry Field Support Equipment (RFSE) to support testing and maintenance of Minuteman 3 reentry vehicles, according to a Feb. 9 announcement. Interested contractors must now submit proposals […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 2/13/2015 Navy Strategic Systems Programs awarded Charles Stark Draper Laboratory a maximum amount $302.4 million sole-source, firm-fixed-price, fixed-price-incentive and cost-plus-incentive-fee contract for ongoing work of the Trident D5 MK 6 Guidance System Repair Program with failure verification, test, repair and recertification of inertial measurement units, electronic assemblies and electronic modules, according […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 2/6/2015 Coupled with a tight funding environment, the Navy’s Feb. 2 release of its Fiscal Year 2016 budget request, which contains $10 billion in programmed funding over the Future Years’ Defense Program for research and development and advanced procurement of the Ohio-Class Replacement Program (ORP), has raised questions about whether the […]

Deputy Defense Secretary Bob Work departed yesterday for a multi-day trip that will end at Minot AFB, where Work will seek feedback from airmen about the effectiveness of recently implemented Nuclear Enterprise recommendations. According to a release, Work, who serves as Chairman of the Nuclear Deterrent Enterprise Review Group, said he has received extensive input […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration and the Air Force completed a series of eight flight tests of the refurbished B61-12 nuclear bomb in December, marking another milestone in the bomb’s life extension program. The tests, known as Vibration Fly Around/Instrumented Measurement Vehicle tests, were conducted at Eglin Air Force Base and Edwards Air Force Base […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 2/6/2015 Defense Secretary nominee Ashton Carter this week stated the Ohio-Class Replacement will “present unique constraints” on the Navy’s shipbuilding plan, especially if the Defense Department is required to be funded at Budget Control Act of 2011 levels. Should the funding caps return, Carter said he would meet with the Navy […]

As different nations modernize, strive to develop and “show off” their strategic capabilities, the U.S. must invest in upgrading its nuclear deterrent, Adm. Cecil Haney, commander of U.S. Strategic Command, said Friday during a speech at the Capitol Hill Club in Washington. Haney addressed topics ranging from space technology to nuclear deterrence during a Friday […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 2/6/2015 The Defense Department is looking to accelerate work on the new long-range standoff weapon, according to the Pentagon’s Fiscal Year 2016 budget request, released earlier this week. While the Air Force was expected to issue a Request for Proposals in the first quarter of FY 2017, an RFP for the […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 2/6/2015 The Obama Administration is seeking $77.1 million in Fiscal Year 2016 for an apparent new classified Air Force facility overseas for the Long-Range Strike Bomber, according to budget documents released this week. The facility is described in the budget request only as “worldwide classified.” Like many other elements of the […]

The Air Force has awarded Boeing a full-rate production contract to deliver 10 kits to modernize B-52 bombers, according to a Feb. 4 Boeing release. On Jan. 28, Boeing received the Combat Network Communications Technology (CONECT) upgrade, which includes full-color LCD displays with real-time intelligence feeds overlaid on moving maps, communication data links that connect […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 2/2/2015 Outlining the Air Force’s proposed Fiscal Year 2016 budget today, Maj. Gen. James Martin, Air Force Assistant Secretary for Budget, warned that elements of the nuclear enterprise could be jeopardized by sequestration. The Air Force’s budget request includes $272 million for the B-2 defensive management system, up $98.8 million from […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 2/2/2015 The Obama Administration is requesting $1.4 billion in Fiscal Year 2016 for the Ohio-Class Replacement program, a project that officials say the Navy plans to fund out of its own account from Fiscal Year 2016 to FY 2020, and that will take about two-thirds of the service’s shipbuilding budget if […]

Four months after Navy Secretary Ray Mabus said the estimated $100 billion Ohio-Class Replacement could “gut” the service’s shipbuilding budget, a senior budget analyst on Friday told reporters the program and its Sea-Based Deterrence fund could siphon money from other branches of the military as well. “[J]ust because you reclassify the budget account, it doesn’t get […]

The refurbishment of the cruise missile warhead for the Air Force’s new Long-Range Standoff weapon is expected to be the recipient of a significant increase in requested funding when President Obama’s Fiscal Year 2016 budget is unveiled today, bucking a request made last week by a group of nonproliferation and arms control experts to cancel […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 1/30/2015 Defense industry executives identified contracts that support the nuclear triad as significant revenue factors during Fourth Quarter Fiscal Year 2014 earnings announcements this week. During separate conference calls this week, Boeing and Lockheed Martin leadership expressed optimism about the future of the companies’ ongoing joint work on the classified long-range […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 1/30/2015 The Defense Department is budgeting $944 million for the Ground-Based Strategic Deterrent (GBSD) in the Future Years’ Defense Plan, and a Request for Information released Jan. 23 has generated interest from multiple possible suitors, as the Air Force strives to employ an affordable, more accurate intercontinental ballistic missile with new […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 1/30/2015 Like the Navy, the Air Force has a large nuclear modernization bill looming, and the idea of a separate deterrence fund for upgrading the air legs of the nuclear triad is gaining traction, according to Global Strike Command chief Lt. Gen. Stephen Wilson. The Navy has proposed a sea-based deterrence […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 1/30/2015 The Congressional Long-Range Strike Caucus gathered on Capitol Hill on Jan. 27 to rally support for modernization of the B-52, B-2, and B-1 bombers, and for manufacturing the Long-Range Strike Bomber as Air Force experts have recently suggested that the Future Years Defense Plan indicates the LRSB is reaching the […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 1/30/2015 In separate meetings regarding their companies’ planned merger on Jan. 27, Orbital stockholders voted to approve the merger while 97 percent of ATK stockholders voted in favor of issuing shares worth $0.01 each, to Orbital stockholders, ATK announced on Jan. 27. ATK is issuing approximately 77 percent of the total […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 1/30/2015 After repairs, all 17 work cages at Malmstrom AFB required for almost every maintenance task in Minuteman 3 facilities’ launch tubes became operational on Jan. 14, according to a Jan. 26 announcement by Malmstrom. Recently, a diminishing supply of replacement parts for the work cages—called guided missile maintenance platforms (GMMP)—and […]

Like the Navy, the Air Force has a large nuclear modernization bill looming, and the idea of a separate deterrence fund for upgrading the air legs of the nuclear triad is gaining traction, according to Global Strike Command chief Lt. Gen. Stephen Wilson. The Navy has proposed a sea-based deterrence fund to pay for the […]

In separate meetings regarding their companies’ planned merger, Orbital stockholders voted to approve the merger while 97 percent of ATK stockholders voted in favor of issuing shares worth $0.01 each, to Orbital stockholders, ATK announced yesterday. ATK is issuing approximately 77 percent of the total number of outstanding shares of ATK common stock as of […]

The Congressional Long-Range Strike Caucus gathered on Capitol Hill yesterday to rally support for modernization of the B-52, B-2, and B-1, and for manufacturing the Long-Range Strike Bomber as Air Force experts have recently suggested that the Future Years Defense Plan indicates the LRSB is reaching the end of its research and development phase, according […]

After repairs, all 17 work cages at Malmstrom AFB required for almost every maintenance task in Minuteman 3 facilities’ launch tubes became operational on Jan. 14, according to an announcement by Malmstrom yesterday. Recently, a diminishing supply of replacement parts for the work cages—called guided missile maintenance platforms (GMMP)—and stress fractures in cast aluminum GMMP […]

The Air Force Nuclear Weapons Center at Hill AFB on Friday released a Request for Information for the Ground-Based Strategic Deterrent, detailing plans to retain the Minuteman 3’s silo basing mode while recapitalizing launch control center and launch facility infrastructure, replacing the entire flight system—including Booster Stages, Guidance, Reentry and Post-Boost Propulsion Systems—of ICBMs, and […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 1/23/2015 While five national lawmakers from the Dakotas reacted positively to the Air Force’s Jan. 16 approval of nearly quadrupling the size of the Powder River Training Complex (PRTC) used as a training area for B-52s housed at Minot AFB, N.D., and B-1s stationed at Ellsworth AFB, S.D., Sens. Jon Tester […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 1/23/2015 If the estimated $100 billion Ohio-Class nuclear submarine replacement program does not receive the funding it requires, the ship’s stealth capability could be among the first elements to get chopped from the program, according to Bryan Clark, Senior Fellow on the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessment’s Strategic Studies team. […]