Air Force Global Strike Command launched an unarmed intercontinental ballistic missile from Vandenberg Space Force Base, Calif., in the early morning hours of Aug. 11, sending the ICBM some 4,200 miles before detonating it with non-nuclear explosives near the Marshall Islands in the Pacific, AFGSC ...
A visit to China as a one-star solidified 20th Air Force Commander Maj. Gen. Michael J. Lutton’s belief that waiting to modernize America’s nuclear arsenal won’t work. That’s because, in his view, the Chinese see treaties as a sign of weakness, Lutton said during a ...
The Air Force has awarded a $2 billion contract to Raytheon Missiles and Defense to engineer and develop the Long Range Standoff weapon system, the service’s next-generation air-launched nuclear missile. The deal, announced July 1, is for the engineering and manufacturing development phase and is ...
The Pentagon’s $715 billion budget request aims to increase research and development, with a key focus on what is needed in the Indo-Pacific, and it will chop old aircraft to do it. The Biden administration’s first budget request, released May 28, includes the biggest total ...
Frank Kendall III will testify before the Senate Armed Services Committee on May 25 during his confirmation hearing to be the 26th Secretary of the Air Force. Kendall would succeed Barbara M. Barrett as the head of the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Space Force, ...
The Air Force should pause its major recapitalization of its intercontinental ballistic missile fleet—a move top military officials strongly oppose—as budgets tighten and other nuclear modernization efforts proceed, a key lawmaker said May 17. Rep. John Garamendi (D-California), the chairman of the House Armed Services ...
If strategic deterrence fails, nothing else will work as intended, said U.S. Strategic Command boss Adm. Charles “Chas” A. Richard during a virtual Brookings Institution event on May 7. “Every operational plan in the Department of Defense, and every other capability we have in DOD, ...
An unarmed Minuteman III test launch was aborted May 5 when the missile’s computer detected a fault during its terminal countdown and stopped the launch process, Air Force Global Strike Command said in a statement. The Air Force regularly tests its ICBM fleet with launches ...
With upcoming budget deliberations and an expected Nuclear Posture Review, Air Force and U.S. Strategic Command leaders are making the case that the Ground-Based Strategic Deterrent is a critical program and is actually cheaper than extending the life of the aging Minuteman III. Other modernization ...
The nuclear enterprise is built on trust and experience. Sustaining and modernizing that enterprise is a delicate business. Darrell Graddy, president of Integrated ICBM Support Services, a joint venture company formed by Leidos, Amentum, and Apex, shares a vision for sustaining ICBM systems today and ...
Northrop Grumman successfully completed the integrated baseline review for the Ground Based Strategic Deterrent program, which is on track for initial operational capability by 2029. The integrated baseline review sets the cost and schedule baseline, identifies risk, and ensures there are mitigation plans ready for ...
Kathleen H. Hicks, who will oversee decisions related to nuclear modernization if confirmed to be the No. 2 official at the Pentagon, assured lawmakers during her confirmation hearing on Feb. 2 that she is committed to all three legs of the nuclear triad. Since Defense ...