A rendering of an LGM-35 Sentinel missile flying at twilight. Northrop Grumman is helping develop the intercontinental ballistic missile system out of the Roy Innovation Center, a sprawling complex in Roy.
Northrop Grumman
The U.S. Air Force invested in an ambitious program to develop a new intercontinental ballistic missile in 2020. Last month, the Air Force said it would cost 37% more than estimated to develop the missiles, as Bloomberg reported.
The project won’t be completed on time and is two years behind schedule, originally set to conclude in 2026. Still, the Air Force has no plans to abandon this program, according to Utah Rep. Blake Moore.
The contract for the program was awarded to space and defense technology company Northrop Grumman, and was initially projected to cost $96 billion — or $118 million per missile — but now, the price tag is $131.5 billion, as per the report.
The Sentinel Systems Directorate is located at the Hill Air Force Base in nothern Utah, falling under Moore’s 1st District.
“There is overwhelming bipartisan support for the Sentinel program. Congress understands the deterrence capabilities at stake, especially as we move into an increasingly unstable geopolitical landscape,” Moore said in a statement to the Deseret News.
“We do not believe the program is in jeopardy and will continue to advocate for the program’s modernization efforts and positive impact on Utah’s economy.”
The goal of this program is to replace a fleet of 400 Minuteman III ballistic missiles, first developed in the 1970s, with the modernized Sentinel intercontinental ballistic missile.
According to the Air Force, this next-generation weapon program “is the most cost-effective option for maintaining a safe, secure and effective land-based leg of the nuclear triad.”
The Government Accountability Office in its June 2023 report said the program is “behind schedule due to staffing shortfalls, delays with clearance processing, and classified information technology infrastructure challenges.” The supply chain disruptions during the pandemic also played a role.
Since the Sentinel program is over budget, it triggered a review under the Nunn-McCurydy Act, which requires the Defense Department to report any increase over 25% in the cost of a defense program.
This review will be conducted by the office of the Secretary of Defense and determine whether the program will be terminated or restructured, a spokesperson from the office told the Standard-Examiner.
In a statement to the Deseret News, Northrup Grumman said it is “making significant progress on this highly complex program, achieving key milestones to mature the design, including key test activities.”
The contractor will continue focusing on the engineering and manufacturing part of the program and inch “toward delivery of this essential national security capability.”
At its last quarterly earnings report, Kathy Warden, chairman, chief executive officer and president of Northrop Grumman Corp., spoke about the progress made.
“We’ve onboarded thousands of engineers. We’ve matured the system design. We’ve produced and tested critical hardware in the missile system,” said Warden.
Earlier this week, Northrop Grumman ran a series of tests at the Roy Innovation Center in Roy, Utah. The contractor has over 10,000 employees in the state, with 3,100 working on the Sentinel program.
The Sentinel program conducted its second static fire test, where the engine is turned on but the missile doesn’t launch, at Arnold Air Force Base in Tennessee last month.
The test is to “help us shake down the design as we approach its critical design review,” said Maj. Gen. John Newberry, Air Force Nuclear Weapons Center commander and Air Force program executive officer for strategic systems, according to a press release. “It demonstrates we continue to make progress on modernizing our nation’s strategic land-based nuclear deterrent.”
This test was followed by another series of tests earlier this week at the Roy Innovation Center, which serves as the headquarters for the ballistic missile program.