Northrop Grumman Corp. will be modernizing the nation’s aging intercontinental ballistic missile system (ICBM) under a $13.3 billion contract awarded by the U.S. Air Force. The contract covers the engineering and manufacturing development phase of the Ground Based Strategic Deterrent (GBSD) program.
The Air Force Nuclear Weapons Center said the effort would span more than eight years and include weapon system design, qualification, test and evaluation and nuclear certification. The Air Force expects to have the weapon system at operational capacity by 2029.
This engineering and manufacturing development award follows a technology maturation and risk reduction phase one effort under the GBSD competition. The Northrop Grumman team applied a digital engineering approach during the technology phase to achieve the design review milestones on time and on cost.
“With more than 65 years of technical leadership on every ICBM system, our nationwide team is honored and committed to continuing our partnership with the U.S. Air Force to deliver a safe, secure and effective system that will contribute to global stability for years to come,” said Kathy Warden, chairman, chief executive officer and president of Northrop Grumman.
Northrop Grumman’s Huntsville and Montgomery facilities will be involved, as will facilities in Utah, Colorado, Nebraska, California, Arizona and Maryland.
The Northrop Grumman GBSD team includes Aerojet Rocketdyne, Bechtel, Clark Construction, Collins Aerospace, General Dynamics, HDT Global, Honeywell, Kratos Defense and Security Solutions, L3Harris, Lockheed Martin, Textron System and hundreds of small and medium-sized companies. Overall the GBSD will involve more than 10,000 people across the U.S. directly working on the program.
