Northrop Grumman secures $2,3B contract for Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missiles

The U.S. Air Force has awarded the contract for sustaining engineering support and program management support services for the Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) propulsion subsystem, according to the U.S. Department of Defense contract announcements.

The contract, from Air Force Nuclear Weapons Center and announced on Tuesday, is valued at more than $2,3 billion.

The deal with an ordering period of 18.5 years is provided for assistance to the government in maintaining the Minuteman III weapon system.

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The Minuteman is a strategic weapon system using a ballistic missile of intercontinental range. Missiles are dispersed in hardened silos to protect against attack and connected to an underground launch control center through a system of hardened cables. Launch crews, consisting of two officers, perform around-the-clock alert in the launch center.

Per the contract, work shall be in areas including, but not limited to; sustaining engineering, maintenance engineering, modification of systems and equipment, hardware and software maintenance, developmental and production engineering, procurement, replenishment, repair and refurbishment.

The contractor shall be required to conduct materials and subcomponent analysis and test, including aging surveillance test and evaluation.

The primary focus shall be to identify aging mechanism, anomalous behavior, and ensure any modifications or changes to the system which shall maintain and/or improve system-level performance. The location of performance is primarily Corrine and Magna, Utah, with various other locations. Work is expected to be completed Nov. 5, 2040.

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Executive Editor

About author:

Colton Jones
Colton Jones
Colton Jones is the deputy editor of Defence Blog. He is a US-based journalist, writer and publisher who specializes in the defense industry in North America and Europe. He has written about emerging technology in military magazines and elsewhere. He is a former Air Force airmen and served at the Ramstein Air Base in Germany.

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