Northrop Grumman likely to be Prime Contractor for Missile System Upgrade
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Posted On October 23, 2019
In Defense News, the Air Force’s contract with Boeing for risk reduction is functionally cancelled, leaving Northrop Grumman as the only remaining competitor.
Companies have been competing to receive the prime contractor position for the next generation of intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM). Ground Based Strategic Deterrent (GBSD) is the program to replace the current ICBM missile system, Minuteman III.
As shared in the “Boeing could be out of the Air Force’s competition for next-gen ICBMs for good” article in Defense News by Valerie Insinna, “Boeing is disappointed in the Air Force’s decision to not allot additional funding for the GBSD Technology Maturation and Risk Reduction (TMRR) contract,” said Boeing spokesman Todd Blecher. “The Boeing team has delivered substantial value under the contract, achieved all contract milestones on time and received strong performance feedback from the Air Force.”
Without the renewal of the TMRR contract Boeing will begin to reduce efforts toward the project. This will result in reassignments of employees, approximately 300 according to the Defense News article, as well as “Stop Work” notices to suppliers working on the TMRR contract.
In result, the only other competing entity for the GBSD Prime Contractor position is Northrop Grumman. The United State’s Air Force has not formally announced this award, however with the company being the sole competitor, the likelihood of them being selected is highly probable.
This all follows the Boeing announcement of withdrawing from the GBSD Competition back in July because of Northrop Grumman’s recent acquisition of Orbital ATK. This is one of two United States solid rocket motor manufacturers. In result, Boeing then worked on a new approach to try to have the Air Force encourage partnership between Boeing & Northrop Grumman to execute the project.
The greater Cheyenne area is encouraged to continue their participation in meeting potential prime contractor needs for GBSD. By doing so, the community will be working to position FE Warren Air Force Base as one of the first to be modernized. The Greater Cheyenne Chamber of Commerce, through the Wyoming Business Advocates, will maintain their role in advocating for congressional funding to keep the project on track.
