The last of 450 new guidance sets have been deployed on the Minuteman III ICBM force, ending the $2.4 billion guidance replacement program “on time and on budget,” said Maj. Gen. Roger Burg, 20th Air Force commander, during a ceremony at F.E. Warren AFB, Wyo., Feb. 25. “We are fully operational and capable,” he added. The project started in 1999 and ended last month with removal of the 1960s-era NS-20 guidance set and addition of the NS-50 on the last missile at Minot AFB, N.D. (F.E. Warren report by TSgt. Kurt Arkenberg)
It'll take up to 18 months for Lockheed Martin to deliver the 100 or so F-35s that went directly from production line to storage, awaiting the completion of Tech Refresh 3 testing. Customers haven't complained about the order in which the backlog is being delivered.