Boeing, which designed and built the current fleet of U.S. nuclear-armed intercontinental ballistic missiles, confirmed Thursday it will not bid on the contract to build the successor Ground-Based Strategic Deterrent (GBSD) missiles.
Boeing and Northrop Grumman are the only two companies eligible to bid on the Air Force’s contract to build the next-generation ICBMs.
“After numerous attempts to resolve concerns within the procurement process, Boeing has informed the Air Force that it will not bid Ground Based Strategic Deterrent (GBSD) Engineering and Manufacturing Development (EMD) under the current acquisition approach,” a Boeing spokesperson wrote Thursday in an email. “We’ve evaluated these issues extensively, and determined that the current acquisition approach does not provide a level playing field for fair competition. Boeing is proud to support the Airmen who keep the ICBM system safe, secure and reliable and remains committed to their mission.”
It was not clear at deadline whether the Air Force would consider restructuring the procurement in an effort to maintain competition among two potential primes. A service spokesperson did not immediately reply to a request for comment Thursday.
Under separate contracts issued in 2017, each worth more than $300 million, Boeing and Northrop Grumman had competed for the GBSD design.
If Boeing does not bid, Northrop Grumman, the only other bidder for the work, will walk away with the massive contract to produce the missiles and deploy them in five states. The Air Force planned to award the pact by September 2020 and has said it will acquire more than 600 missiles and deploy about 400, beginning around 2030.
The missiles would remain in service into the 2080s.
Inside Defense broke the news on Wednesday that Boeing would withdraw from the competition. The Air Force released its solicitation for the GBSD engineering and manufacturing development contract last week.
