Delivery Systems & Nuclear Triad

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 11/21/2014 In the wake of two reports released  last week that exposed widespread flaws in U.S. nuclear enterprise personnel structures, the Defense Department has vowed to grow Global Strike Command by 1,100 military and civilian billets, up from the personnel increase of 848 announced in August. The increases are aimed at […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 11/21/2014 After Dec. 11, a subsequent short-term or year-long Continuing Resolution to continue to fund the federal government could prompt Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) to request a funding anomaly to enable the building of an Ohio-class replacement test facility later this year. The program’s Fiscal Year 2015 budget request sought […]

After Dec. 11, a subsequent continuing resolution could prompt Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) to request a funding anomaly to enable the building of an Ohio-class replacement test facility later this year. The program’s Fiscal Year 2015 budget requests about $200 million more than Fiscal 2014, John Evans, NAVSEA deputy director of naval warfare told […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 11/14/2014 Aligning with Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James’ call earlier this month to “institutionalize” the morale-boosting philosophy behind Global Strike Command’s Force Improvement Program (FIP), the command has formed its first ever specialized team for maintenance of launch control centers (LCCs), and has restructured its rotation model for missile officers. […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 11/7/2014 The Navy’s most senior officer this week expressed concern that sequestration could prompt slashes in construction personnel for nuclear forces, and could result in a long struggle to reprogram funding for projects like the Ohio replacement.  Speaking Nov. 4 at the Brookings Institution in Washington, Adm. Jonathan Greenert, Chief of […]

The Navy’s most senior officer on Tuesday expressed concern that sequestration could prompt slashes in construction personnel for nuclear forces, and could result in a long struggle to reprogram funding for projects like the Ohio replacement. Speaking at the Brookings Institution in Washington, Adm. Jonathan Greenert, Chief of Naval Operations, said that the prospect of […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 10/31/2014 ATK senior managers are reviewing the planned merger of the company’s aerospace and defense divisions with Orbital Sciences after Orbital’s Antares rocket exploded during liftoff on Oct. 28 at Wallops Island, Va. ATK CEO Mark DeYoung delivered the information during the company’s Oct. 30 Q2 FY15 investor earnings conference call. […]

U.S. Strategic Command will upgrade a key element of its Integrated Strategic Planning and Analysis Network (ISPAN), which national leaders and combatant commanders use to plan for nuclear crisis scenarios, according to an Oct. 24 release. Five contracts awarded by the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center at Hanscom (Mass.) AFB to four companies—BAE Systems, […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 10/24/2014 Citing a high level of complexity, Naval Reactors chief Adm. John Richardson cast doubt on the future of the $100 billion Ohio-class nuclear submarine replacement project this week, suggesting the program has “ingredients for failure,” according to published reports. During an Oct. 22 presentation at the Naval Submarine League’s annual […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 10/24/2014 Modernizing the United Kingdom’s nuclear-capable submarines in the near future can be ensured only through the election of a Conservative government to replace the current parliamentary coalition of the Conservative and Liberal Democrat parties, Lord Des Browne, former UK Secretary of State for Defence and current vice chair of the […]

Former United Kingdom Secretary of State for Defence Lord Des Browne said it was unlikely that future prime ministers would pledge to spend money to replace nuclear-capable “boats,” not “bombs,” as was originally reported in an Oct. 21 Weapons Complex Morning Briefing article. Weapons Complex Morning Briefing regrets the error

Modernization of the United Kingdom’s nuclear deterrent in the near future can be ensured only through the election of a Conservative government to replace the current parliamentary coalition of the Conservative and Liberal Democrat parties, Lord Des Browne, former UK Secretary of State for Defence and current vice chair of the Nuclear Threat Initiative, told […]

U.S. Strategic Command today will begin its annual field training and battle staff exercise, which primarily emphasizes nuclear command and control and coordinates all of the command’s mission areas in space, cyberspace, missile defense, combating weapons of mass destruction and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, according to a STRATCOM statement. STRATCOM will conduct the operation, dubbed […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 10/17/2014 A $171.1 million contract awarded to DRS Laurel Technologies for the production and installation of support hardware for U.S. submarines’ combat control and sonar systems will also entail research and development for the hardware’s implementation on Ohio replacement SSBNs, according to NAVSEA spokesperson Matt Leonard. Awarded in late September by […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 10/10/2014 Air Force Global Strike Command earlier this month started the ICBM Parts Centralized Funding Program, shifting responsibility for missile support system purchases away from the 20th Air Force and aligning it with the overarching command, according to an Oct. 3 release. Previously, heads of the 20th Air Force’s 90th, 341st […]

Todd Jacobson and Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 10/10/2014 The Obama Administration is taking a hard look at whether it needs to replace the air-launched cruise missile, outgoing Assistant Secretary of Defense for Nuclear, Chemical & Biological Defense Programs Andrew Weber told reporters earlier this week as he prepared to leave his position after five years. […]

The Obama Administration is taking a hard look at whether it needs to replace the air-launched cruise missile, outgoing Assistant Secretary of Defense for Nuclear, Chemical & Biological Defense Programs Andrew Weber told reporters earlier this week as he prepared to leave his position after five years. The large price tag to modernize the nation’s […]

Air Force Global Strike Command on Oct. 1 started the ICBM Parts Centralized Funding Program, shifting responsibility for missile system purchases away from the 20th Air Force, while aligning it with the overarching command, according to an Oct. 3 command press release. Previously, heads of the 20th Air Force’s 90th, 341st and 91st missile wings […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 10/3/2014 The U.S. nuclear enterprise requires a fiscal “plus-up,” but military officials are still wrestling with where the necessary funding will come from, U.S. Strategic Command Vice Commander Lt. Gen. James Kowalski said last week. “We did a fair amount of investment in organizational changes and in focus of our nuclear […]

NS&D Monitor 10/3/2014 IN DoD Two B-52H Stratofortresses operated by 8th Air Force bomber crews were flown in a Sept. 22 simulated combat mission from Barksdale AFB to the Utah Test and Training Range, where one jet launched an unarmed AGM-86B air-launched cruise missile, Air Force Global Strike Command said in a Sept. 26 statement. […]

Strategic Systems Programs has awarded two contract modifications – one each to Northrop Grumman Systems Corp. and Interstate Electronics Corp. – related to external Trident II (D5) missile support systems, according to a Sept. 29 Defense Department announcement. The $60.1-million cost-plus-incentive-fee, cost-plus-fixed-fee Northrop contract modification will fund support for the Underwater Launcher System and Advanced […]

  The Naval Undersea Warfare Center in Keyport, Wash., has awarded DRS Laurel Technologies a $171.1-million contract to install Technology Insertion Hardware (TIH) in future Ohio-replacement submarines and current Ohio-class SSBNs, along with other subs, according to a Sept. 29 Defense Department announcement. Under the fixed-price-incentive, cost-plus-incentive fee, cost-plus-fixed fee, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract, DRS will develop […]

The Air Force Nuclear Weapon Center at Hill Air Force Base has awarded a $10.4 million contract to Exelis-Night Vision and Communications Solutions for design updates, manufacturing and delivery of the Data Storage Service Life Extension Program for the Strategic Automated Command and Control System (SACCS), the secure communications network that coordinates operations for U.S. […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 9/26/2014 The Nuclear Weapons Council quietly selected the W80 warhead last month for use in the new long-range standoff weapon (LRSO), a National Nuclear Security Administration spokesman confirmed to NS&D Monitor this week. The W80 is the warhead currently used on the Air Force’s air-launched cruise missile, and it was picked […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 9/26/2014 Congressional appropriators should act quickly to fund the Ohio Class replacement submarine, as recapitalization for the SSBNs is in the midst of a 20-year delay, Rear Adm. Joe Tofalo, the Navy’s director of Undersea Warfare, said in remarks delivered in Washington at a Sept. 18 Minot Air Force Base Task […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 9/26/2014 U.S. Strategic Command Vice Commander Lt. Gen. James Kowalski  confirmed late this week that a new “hybrid” mobile-option intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) that would allow nuclear forces to respond to potential nuclear attacks with a greater degree of certainty than the 40-year-old Minuteman 3 ICBM is expected to debut in […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 9/26/2014 Navy Strategic Systems Programs late last week awarded Lockheed Martin Space Systems Co. two contract modifications for work related to Trident II (D5) missiles. One of the contracts allocates $34.2 million toward meeting New START Treaty requirements, according to a Sept. 19 Defense Department announcement and Strategic Systems Programs spokesperson […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 9/26/2014 Air Force Global Strike Command this week successfully tested an unarmed Minuteman III missile, which flew from Vandenberg AFB, Calif., to Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands in a span of approximately 30 minutes, according to command spokesperson Carla Pampe. The missile was launched at 7:45 a.m. Pacific Daylight Time, and […]

The Air Force has awarded Boeing a $4.9 million contract to refurbish and replace an integral unit for the testing of U.S. Minuteman 3 intercontinental ballistic missile guidance systems, according to a Sept. 22 Boeing press release. Boeing will develop and renew the Guidance Data Acquisition System (GDAS) associated with the Minuteman 3’s. The renewed […]

Air Force Global Strike Command Tuesday successfully tested an unarmed Minuteman 3 missile, which flew from Vandenburg AFB, Calif., to Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands in a span of approximately 30 minutes, according to command spokesperson Carla Pampe. The missile was launched at 7:45 a.m. Pacific Daylight Time, and collided with a predetermined target in […]