Sentinel Missile Project Gets Green Light

The Sentinel missile program, hoped to boost this area’s economy, will continue with an increase in costs and a delay in construction, the U.S. Department of Defense announced.

The department, Congress and Pentagon determined that the Sentinel program is essential to national security and there are no alternatives to the program at a lesser cost, according to information that the department released.

Other reasons for the certification of the Sentinel program were listed as:

The director of Cost Assessment and Program Evaluation agreed that new cost estimates are reasonable.

The program is “a higher priority than program whose funding must be reduced to accommodate the growth in cost.”

The program’s management structure is adequate to manage and control the program acquisitions unit cost.

Since January 2024, the Sentinel program has been under review by Congress as a result of the Nunn-McCurdy statute requiring a review when a defense program increases costs by 25% or more. Nunn-McCurdy requires the Defense Secretary to either cancel the program or certify it to continue. The Sentinel was certified to continue.

The Defense Sentinel program review lead, Dr. William A. LaPlante, said, “Sentinel is a truly historic program to modernize the land leg of the Triad, and its scale, scope, and complexity are something we haven’t attempted as a nation in 60 years. Having completed a comprehensive and objective assessment of the program, it is clear that the Sentinel program remains essential to U. S. national security and is the best option to meet the need of our warfighters.”

The cost of the Sentinel has increased 81% to almost $140.9 billion and will be delayed three years. The increased costs of the Sentinel are related to upgrades to existing missile silos and other launch and command and control infrastructure.

The Sentinel missile, known as the LGM-35A, is still in the Northrop Grumman development stage. The average unit cost of the Sentinel will be up from the original estimate of $118 million, to approximately $214 million.

In his article “Problem Plagued Sentinel ICBM Program Will Press Ahead Despite Nearly Double in Cost,” Joseph Trevithick from The War Zone said: “It is also important to note that the Air Force is now in the process of restructuring the Sentinel program, which will lead to a further revised cost baseline, which could be greater (or less) than the $140.9 billion figure CAPE produced as part of the Nunn-McCurdy review. Reworking the Sentinel program is expected to take between 18 and 24 months.”

As for now, the 400 Minuteman III missiles in five states will need to be maintained.

Air Force acquisition chief Andrew Hunter said, “We’ll do what it takes to sustain Minuteman III to meet warfighter requirements.”