Certain segments for the intercontinental ballistic missile Sentinel are being put on hold while the program undergoes restructuring, the Air Force said in a statement Monday.
“The Air Force has ordered the Northrop Grumman Corporation to suspend the design, testing, and construction related to the Command and Launch Segment,” a spokesperson said in the statement. Defense One first reported the hold.
While the Air Force earlier targeted May 2029 for initial operational capability for the intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) Sentinel, the revised milestone will be years beyond 2029, the Pentagon said in July.
Following a Nunn-McCurdy review, the department said that it had reversed its 2020 decision to begin Sentinel engineering and manufacturing development, the phase in Pentagon management that ends with a manufacturing demonstration. Sentinel’s overall cost has ballooned to nearly $141 billion, 81% greater than the September 2020 estimate.
Kathy Warden, the CEO of Northrop Grumman, alluded to the pause on the company’s fourth-quarter earnings call Jan. 30 but spoke positively about the program. She said the project restructure is projected by the government to take 18 to 24 months, “so we are still very much in that window.”
