Todd Jacobson
NS&D Monitor
6/27/2014
The Air Force is set to begin briefing leadership on the results of its analysis of alternatives for replacing the current fleet of Minuteman 3 intercontinental ballistic missiles, Global Strike Command chief Lt. Gen. Stephen Wilson said this week. The analysis covers a variety of options for the new “Ground-Based Strategic Deterrent” starting in about 2030, considering a “phased approach for being able to do that,” Wilson said. “Everything from the solid rocket motors, to the guidance, to the warhead down the line.” Speaking at the Air Force Association June 24, Wilson said the analysis is “just now completing” and that it was being briefed for Air Force leadership, with an expectation that a final decision could be announced by the end of the summer.
Earlier this year, a RAND study concluded that incrementally modernizing and sustaining the current Minuteman 3 missile system would be a much cheaper option than an all-new ICBM system, which it said could cost two to three times as much. In addition to incremental modernization and sustainment, the Analysis of Alternatives (AoA) considered several options for maintaining the ICBM leg of the nuclear triad through 2075. Those included a new ICBM, as well as rail-mobile ICBMs and placing the new ICBM in a super-hardened silo. “Cost is a really big part of this as we move forward,” Wilson acknowledged. “We had to look at a multitude of options, with cost being one of the big drivers. You bring forward an analysis of alternatives; do we use existing infrastructure, to a variety of options. Now we’ll bring that inside the building and we’ll take it to the next stage in the acquisition program but in every step of the way cost and not only cost, but the long term cost, have to factor into this.”
The Air Force also said it will begin briefing industry on its plans in July, according to a notice posted June 23 on www.fedbizopps.com. The notice indicates that Air Force Global Strike Command, the Air Force Nuclear Weapons Center and the Intercontinental Ballistic Missile Systems Directorate will conduct a classified “GBSD Post AoA Industry Brief” at Hill Air Force Base (Utah) July 16. The briefing is classified and is only open to Department of Defense contractors and academia with DoD contracts. It will “provide industry the GBSD AoA results which addresses modernization or replacement of the ground based leg of the nuclear triad” and will also include information about the path forward for the ground-based strategic deterrent as well as an opportunity for questions and answers.
