Delivery Systems & Nuclear Triad

The U.S. Air Force B-52 Radar Modernization Program (RMP) has exceeded the 15% significant unit cost increase threshold “due to design, production, and installation cost increases,” the Air Force said on Monday. The Air Force program executive office for bombers at the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base (AFB), Ohio […]

Vanderberg Space Force Base announced that the U.S. military will test-launch an unarmed Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile in Santa Barbara County, Calif., Wednesday May 21. The Air Force Global Strike Command (AFGSC) said it will launch the nuclear missile between 12:01 a.m. and 5:01 a.m. Pacific Times to “demonstrate the readiness of U.S. nuclear […]

The W80-4 warhead will stay on schedule, despite the cost breach of its delivery vehicle the B-52 bomber, Sandia National Laboratories director Laura McGill said during an online press conference Wednesday. “It is really critical that we deliver that system on time,” McGill said while answering a question by the Exchange Monitor on how last […]

The W80-4 warhead will stay on schedule, despite the cost breach of its delivery vehicle the B-52 bomber, Sandia National Laboratories director Laura McGill said during an online press conference Wednesday. “It is really critical that we deliver that system on time,” McGill said while answering a question by the Exchange Monitor on how last […]

The U.S. Air Force said on Thursday that the program executive officer for bombers at the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center submitted a program deviation report on the B-52 Radar Modernization Program to the service’s acquisition executive on Apr. 11. “The Air Force is assessing the cost and schedule growth on the program and […]

Nuclear modernization, including the Northrop Grumman LGM-35A Sentinel future intercontinental ballistic missile, and space resilience are top Department of the Air Force challenges that Matthew Lohmeier, the nominee for undersecretary of the Air Force, said he plans to address. “If confirmed, I suspect that the modernization of the nuclear portfolio and ensuring the resilience of […]

Gen. Thomas Bussiere, commander of the Air Force Global Strike Command at Barksdale Air Force Base, La., said reusing the Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile siloes for the replacement Sentinel in the future might not be “more efficient” or “cost effective.” Bussiere’s comments came at the April 30 Advanced Nuclear Weapons Alliance Deterrence Center virtual […]

Gen. Thomas Bussiere, commander of the Air Force Global Strike Command at Barksdale Air Force Base, La., said reusing the Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile siloes for the replacement Sentinel in the future might not be “more efficient” or “cost effective.” Bussiere’s comments came at the April 30 Advanced Nuclear Weapons Alliance Deterrence Center virtual […]

Nuclear modernization, including the Northrop Grumman LGM-35A Sentinel future intercontinental ballistic missile, and space resilience are top Department of the Air Force challenges that Matthew Lohmeier, the nominee for undersecretary of the Air Force, said he plans to address. “If confirmed, I suspect that the modernization of the nuclear portfolio and ensuring the resilience of […]

WASHINGTON, DC. – A reconciliation bill that would provide $150 billion in extra funding to defense passed 35-21 in the House Armed Services Committee, despite opposition from Democrats on programs like Sentinel. Sentinel, an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) currently being built by Northrop Grumman, received $1.5 billion in “risk reduction” funding in the bill released […]

While shipbuilding and Golden Dome are both receiving $59 billion in the $150 billion Department of Defense reconciliation bill, U.S. Air Force aircraft programs also see a significant jump, including $4.5 billion to accelerate the Northrop Grumman B-21 Raider stealth bomber. The House Armed Services Committee will mark up the reconciliation bill, which specifies $13 […]

Both chambers of congress released a $150 billion defense reconciliation bill over the weekend that includes $1.5 billion for Sentinel risk reduction and $500 million for Minuteman III improvements. The bill also includes $800 million for accelerated next-generation intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) deployment and development. Sentinel, an ICBM currently being built by Northrop Grumman, will […]

A manufacturing process change that will allow Northrop Grumman to reduce risk, increase production rates, and set the foundation for expanded production numbers of the B-21 stealth bomber beyond current plans helped lead to a $397 million after-tax loss on the Air Force program in the first quarter, the company said on Tuesday. The manufacturing […]

A manufacturing process change that will allow Northrop Grumman to reduce risk, increase production rates, and set the foundation for expanded production numbers of the B-21 stealth bomber beyond current plans helped lead to a $397 million after-tax loss on the Air Force program in the first quarter, the company said on Tuesday. The manufacturing […]

The Northrop Grumman LGM-35A Sentinel intercontinental ballistic missile is to have new silos, U.S. Air Force leaders told community leaders during town halls in Kimball, Neb. and Pine Bluffs, Wyo. early April. The Sentinel intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) has a significantly larger design than its predecessor 1960s-era Minuteman missile series, including the Boeing-made Minuteman III. […]

A Navy official told a panel of senators last week that the lead Columbia-class ballistic missile submarine is currently running 12 to 18 months late, but they are trying to recover some of that delay time. In a written statement for the Senate Armed Services Seapower subcommittee hearing April 8, program executive officers for the […]

The Northrop Grumman LGM-35A Sentinel future intercontinental ballistic missile may get a reprieve from President Donald Trump’s executive order as DoD re-baselined the program last year after a six-month Nunn-McCurdy review. President Donald Trump’s April 9 executive order, Modernizing Defense Acquisitions and Spurring Innovation in the Defense Industrial Base, speaks of cancellations of Major Defense […]

U.S. Strategic Command is looking into potential impacts of President Donald Trump’s Golden Dome missile defense to the nation’s nuclear deterrence, the commander said in a fiscal 2026 Strategic Forces Posture hearing April 9.  “We’re looking at some of the things that came from the SDI [Strategic Defense Initiative] initiatives, some of the talking points, […]

The Northrop Grumman LGM-35A Sentinel intercontinental ballistic missile is to have new silos, U.S. Air Force leaders told community leaders during town halls in Kimball, Neb. and Pine Bluffs, Wyo. early April. The Sentinel intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) has a significantly larger design than its predecessor 1960s-era Minuteman missile series, including the Boeing-made Minuteman III. […]

A Navy official told a panel of senators last week that the lead Columbia-class ballistic missile submarine is currently running 12 to 18 months late, but they are trying to recover some of that delay time. In a written statement for the Senate Armed Services Seapower subcommittee hearing April 8, program executive officers for the […]

The Northrop Grumman LGM-35A Sentinel future intercontinental ballistic missile may get a reprieve from President Donald Trump’s executive order as DoD re-baselined the program last year after a six-month Nunn-McCurdy review. President Donald Trump’s April 9 executive order, Modernizing Defense Acquisitions and Spurring Innovation in the Defense Industrial Base, speaks of cancellations of Major Defense […]

In a series of executive orders released Wednesday, President Donald Trump said any major defense acquisition program 15% over cost could be cancelled. “[A]ny program more than 15 percent behind schedule based on the current Acquisition Program Baseline (APB), 15 percent over cost based on the current APB, unable to meet any key performance parameters, […]

The House Armed Services Strategic Forces subcommittee will hear from Gen. Anthony Cotton, commander of the U.S. Strategic Command, and others on the country’s strategic forces posture for fiscal 2026. Cotton, the military’s top uniformed nuclear official, is one of four witnesses to testify Tuesday at 3:30 p.m. Eastern time in Rayburn House Office Building, […]

To build the equivalent of an annual 500% increase in submarine tonnage from 2004 to now, Adm. William Houston said the Navy is trying to leverage new technology like automated robot inspectors and drone-based monitors. “We now have automated robots to do inspections for us in tanks – that goes ahead and takes tank inspections […]

Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.) said Tuesday the U.S. Air Force might be able to re-use some Minuteman III silos to house the future Northrop Grumman LGM-35A Sentinel. Cramer, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee’s strategic forces panel, also said the Air Force is increasingly discussing possible concurrent upgrades to house Sentinel at the […]

Secretary of the Air Force-nominee Troy Meink says that the future LGM-35A Sentinel intercontinental ballistic missile by Northrop Grumman is needed for deterrence.  “The ground leg of the nuclear triad–Minuteman III and, over time, Sentinel–are foundational to strategic deterrence and defense of the homeland,” he wrote in written answers to the Senate Armed Services Committee […]

While Sens. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) and Deb Fischer (R-Neb.) are pulling for President Donald Trump’s “Golden Dome” missile defense against nuclear adversaries, others are saying it is not cost effective. “We need to protect the homeland from as many dangers as are out there,” Wicker told the Exchange Monitor in the halls of the Capitol […]

Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.) said Tuesday the U.S. Air Force may be able to re-use some Minuteman III silos to house the future Northrop Grumman LGM-35A Sentinel. Cramer, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee’s strategic forces panel, also said the Air Force is increasingly discussing possible concurrent upgrades to house Sentinel at the […]

Secretary of the Air Force-nominee Troy Meink says that the future LGM-35A Sentinel intercontinental ballistic missile by Northrop Grumman is needed for deterrence.  “The ground leg of the nuclear triad–Minuteman III and, over time, Sentinel–are foundational to strategic deterrence and defense of the homeland,” he wrote in written answers to the Senate Armed Services Committee […]

Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) Wednesday told the commander of the Strategic Command Gen. Anthony Cotton that he thinks adding a nuclear warhead to the nation’s submarines could be “disruptive” to the maritime program. A planned nuclear-armed, sea-launched cruise missile (SLCM-N) would be deployed on the Virginia-class submarines and would include a variant of the W80-4 […]