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 ...
nuclear modernization
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 ...
China’s nascent identity as a nuclear-capable power and Russia’s nuclear modernization plan underscore the continued need for America’s nuclear triad, the head of Air Force Global Strike Command said Dec. 10. “There's a myth out there that nukes are less relevant,” AFGSC boss Gen. Timothy ...
Nearly 18 months out of office, former Air Force Secretary Heather A. Wilson indicated the service has more work to do on the reforms she championed over the course of two years. Wilson, now president of the University of Texas at El Paso, pursued multiple ...
