Northrop Grumman and Boeing are teaming up with “industry partners” on their Ground-Based Strategic Deterrent (GBSD) contract bids, but neither is naming the companies involved.
Last week Northrop, Boeing, and Lockheed Martin confirmed their bids for the technology maturation and risk reduction phase of the GBSD contract competition; Lockheed then identified the team of contractors that will offer technical support if it wins the award.
The GBSD intercontinental ballistic missile will replace the decades-old Minuteman III ICBM. It is expected to be deployed in the late 2020s, with a service life that will extend through 2075. Congress has authorized $114 million for the program for fiscal 2017 and plans to spend over $3 billion on early development activities from fiscal 2017 to 2021.
Bids for the Air Force’s request for proposals for the GBSD’s technology maturation and risk reduction phase were due last week. The service will award up to two contracts in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2017 for an estimated 36-month period of performance for the advanced development phase intended to identify technologies for integration in the full system.
Northrop spokeswoman Sally Koris said by email the company is “drawing on the expertise of the entire company” and “leveraging industry partners with demonstrated performance in the design and development of ICBM systems” for the opportunity. “We have built a team that has the ability to design and integrate all aspects of the weapon system,” she said.
Northrop was the Air Force’s ICBM systems engineering and technical assistance contractor for decades. The contractor said in a statement Monday that it “has served as the systems integrator on every ICBM weapon system and, as a result, has the extensive systems engineering expertise required for GBSD.”
Boeing spokeswoman Queena Jones said the aerospace giant “has relationships with numerous industry partners” to support its GBSD bid. “We will partner with suppliers on a non-exclusive basis who share our commitment to the GBSD TMRR solicitation’s call for flexibility and performance excellence in terms of cost, quality, delivery and innovation, and that includes small businesses,” she said.
Boeing developed the original Minuteman missile beginning in 1958.
Lockheed said last week its team features General Dynamics for support on weapon system command and control; Draper Laboratory for guidance, navigation, and control; Moog for thrust vector control systems; Bechtel for launch facilities; and Aerojet Rocketdyne and Orbital ATK as propulsion system suppliers.
The company previously developed the Air Force’s first operational ICBM and provided ground command and control systems for the Minuteman III.
Lockheed announced Thursday that its GBSD program office will be located at the Falcon Hill National Aerospace Research Park at Hill Air Force Base in Utah. The company signed a lease for 25,000 square feet of office space, which will include high-tech laboratory space, Lockheed said.
Estimates for the cost of developing and fielding GBSD missiles have varied, from the service’s estimate of $62.3 billion over 30 years in then-year dollars, to the Defense Department acquisition chief’s estimate of $85 billion, which was later said to be on the lower end of the actual forecast cost range.
