Brian Bradley
NS&D Monitor
5/1/2015
As the Air Force starts this month to remove 50 Minuteman 3 rocket boosters from silos—or launch facilities (LFs)—across all three intercontinental ballistic missile wings, the existing boosters will rotate among the LFs and empty silos will be upgraded but kept warm, according to Air Force Global Strike Command. AFGSC spokesperson Capt. Michele Rollins wrote in an email this week to NS&D Monitor that an accompanying goal of this New START compliance measure is to upgrade LF infrastructure and leverage the improvements into the Ground-Based Strategic Deterrent. However, this phase of LF upgrading will not entail changes to command and control, security or nuclear certification of the operational non-deployed launch facilities.
The command hopes to complete the transition, including the drawdown, by February 2017, converting two-to-three LFs at each missile wing per quarter, Rollins wrote. “Air Force Global Strike Command developed sortie selection criteria to balance operational requirements, security, and maintenance,” she wrote. “The Missile Wings nominated launch facilities based on selection criteria and short and long-term scheduling/maintenance requirements. As maintenance is completed, LFs will rotate out of non-deployed status and other LFs will be placed into non-deployed status for maintenance.” All 50 LFs will remain fully operational and available for redeployment by complying with routine and standard maintenance procedures, according to Rollins.
Future for Nuclear Capabilities Hazy
The future of capabilities within the nuclear triad appears uncertain, even perhaps for Pentagon insiders. Lt. Gen. Stephen Hoog, Air Force Assistant Vice Chief of Staff and Director of Air Staff, this week cited an ongoing comprehensive Defense Department review, which could take awhile, he said. “I don’t think it’s going to be resolved anytime soon, but the question’s been asked and at the end of the day, how we start down that process is going to be the key part of the next five to 25 years,” Hoog said during an Air Force Association speech this week.
The review is contemplating a 21st century nuclear architecture, while the currently fielded ICBM, the Minuteman 3, was fielded in 1970, the Ohio-class submarine is reaching the end of its service life and 1950s-era bombers are still flying. On the ICBM side, officials are exploring matters including NC2 integration and the distribution of LFs per launch control center, Lt. Gen. Mike Holmes, Deputy Chief of Staff for Strategic Plans and Requirements, said recently.
IPIC Winds Down
As work on its ICBM Prime Integration Contract (IPIC) winds down, Northrop Grumman CFO Kenneth Bedingfield said this week during his company’s first quarter of FY 2015 earnings call that the company’s outlook for this year reflects lower volume, in part, from the ICBM program. The company’s Technical Services division, which manages sustainment of the Minuteman 3, expects to earn $2.7-$2.8 billion in operational income for the year with no change from the prior outlook. The company expects international growth to partially offset the lower volume associated with ICBM and other modernization programs. Northrop Grumman stops working on the IPIC on Sept. 30, when the Air Force transitions from that structure to the Air Force/BAE Systems-led Future ICBM Sustainment and Acquisition Concept (FISAC). Northrop in January won the FISAC Ground Subsystem contract.
