Lockheed Martin on Dec. 15 received a new contract and the Air Force extended a second worth a total of about $60 million to revitalize the Air Force’s Minuteman III re-entry systems. The awards include a $50 million, four-year fixed price contract covering seven reentry field support equipment units and additional support equipment. Another $10.6 million contract extends an existing deal for ICBM reentry vehicle integration and modernization, according to a Lockheed release. The contracts come as the Air Force seeks to modernize its Minuteman III fleet to keep it viable until its replacement. A request for proposal for the Ground Based Strategic Deterrent system went out this fall, with development expected in the late 2020s, and an expected cost of about $62 billion.
An important U.S. Air Force E-3 Sentry AWACS command and control plane was among the aircraft damaged in a March 27 Iranian missile and drone attack on Prince Sultan Air Base, Saudi Arabia, people familiar with the matter told Air & Space Forces Magazine.