Northrop Grumman/Air Force Complete Guidance Upgrade Installations on Minuteman III ICBMs

(Source: Northrop Grumman Corp.; issued March 11, 2008)

CLEARFIELD, Utah --- With the installation of a modernized missile guidance set (MGS) delivered by Northrop Grumman Corporation, the U.S. Air Force declared full operational capability on Feb. 25 for the Minuteman III inter-continental ballistic missile (ICBM) guidance replacement program, a major milestone in the ICBM modernization effort

The MGS was installed by the 20th Air Force onto a Minuteman III missile at Minot Air Force Base, N.D in January. Today, the entire force of 450 land-based ICBMs is converted to the modernized MGS, known as NS50.

The MGS upgrade is being performed under the ICBM Guidance Replacement Program (GRP), a modernization effort aimed at replacing and upgrading the 1970s-vintage electronics in the Minuteman III missile, which have been determined to be unreliable in flight due to aging effects. As a result of the new NS50 MGS, field reliability is approximately double that of the old system. The new system is also safer, and easier to maintain and support.

GRP is one of eight major ICBM upgrade programs managed by prime contractor Northrop Grumman. In this role, the company is modernizing and maintaining the reliability, safety, and security of the nation's entire force of land-based Minuteman III missiles, under a 15-year effort awarded by the U.S Air Force in 1997. For the past ten years, the company has successfully maintained force readiness while implementing a series of complex upgrades that extend the missile's service life through 2030.

"Significant progress has been made today in completing the first step in meeting the Air Force's requirement to increase the reliability and nuclear safety of the Minuteman III weapon system," said John Clay, vice president and general manager of the ICBM Prime Integration Contract at Northrop Grumman's Mission Systems sector. "The Guidance Replacement Program has been a flagship program for Northrop Grumman and its teammates and more significantly for our customer, the United States Air Force. This major accomplishment could not have occurred without the significant contributions of all parties involved, especially the Air Force airmen responsible for installing each guidance set onto the Minuteman III missile at each launch facility."

Boeing Electronic Systems Missile Defense is a principal teammate on GRP and produces the MGS for the program. Honeywell Space Systems Division is a major subcontractor to Boeing and provides the system's missile guidance computer.

Final GRP production deliveries are expected to be complete by early 2009. These include approximately 200 more missile guidance sets that will be used for future Minuteman III flight tests and spares. The new NS50 has successfully flown on 23 Minuteman III flight test missiles with no failures, providing high confidence that it meets its in-flight reliability requirement.

Northrop Grumman's ICBM Prime Integration Contract is headquartered in Clearfield, and employs more than 700 people, including teammate and subcontractor personnel. The ICBM team includes three principal teammates -- Boeing, Lockheed Martin, and ATK -- and more than 20 subcontractors.

Boeing Completes 6 Years of On-Time Minuteman III Missile Guidance Set Deliveries

(Source: Boeing Co.; issued May 15, 2008)

ST. LOUIS --- Boeing has achieved six years of consecutive on-time deliveries for the Minuteman III missile program with the recent delivery of the 593rd missile guidance set (MGS) to the U.S. Air Force.

Boeing delivered the guidance set Feb. 27 as part of the Minuteman III Guidance Replacement Program (GRP). The MGS has accumulated more than 15.6 million operational hours since its first deployment in August 1999.

"The Guidance Replacement Program team has consistently demonstrated attention to technical excellence, continuous product improvement and customer satisfaction," said Charles Dutch, Boeing Guidance Replacement Program director. "One of the keys to our success is our relationship with our supplier network over a long period of time. We have a capable, flexible and diverse set of suppliers that has helped us achieve this impressive milestone."

The Minuteman III program also celebrated the Air Force's declaration of Full Operational Capability on Feb. 25, as all active Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles (ICBM) now feature modernized Minuteman III guidance system electronics.

GRP is one element of the ICBM Prime Integration Contract, led by Northrop Grumman Corp. and major subcontractor Honeywell. The program modernizes the United States' Minuteman III guidance system electronics, including hardware and software updates, and extends the service life of the Minuteman III MGS through 2030.

Boeing has been the only U.S. Air Force ICBM guidance system integration contractor for more than 50 years on the Minuteman I, II and III systems, the Peacekeeper, the Small ICBM and now GRP.

Boeing has played a key role in ICBM development design, production and maintenance since Minuteman I was conceptualized in 1958. In addition to GRP, Boeing performs ICBM repair activities at its Guidance Repair Center in Heath, Ohio, and is an ICBM prime contractor team member.

Boeing's integrated ICBM product teams include more than 1,000 Boeing employees and span several locations, including Heath; El Paso, Texas; Mesa, Ariz.; Ogden, Utah; Anaheim, Calif., and Honeywell in Clearwater, Fla.

Vandenberg Officials Launch Minuteman III

(Source: U.S Air Force; issued June 29, 2009)

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. --- Vandenberg Air Force Base officials launched an unarmed Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile configured with a National Nuclear Security Administration test assembly from North Vandenberg at 3:01 a.m. PDT June 29.

The launch was an operational test to verify the weapon system's reliability and accuracy.

The missile carried three unarmed re-entry vehicles approximately 4,190 miles at speeds in excess of 24,000 mph to their predetermined targets near the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands.

Col. David Buck, the 30th Space Wing commander, was the mission's launch decision authority. Lt. Col. Lesa K. Toler, the 576th Flight Test Squadron commander, was the mission director for this test launch.

Throughout the preparation and execution of the mission, maintenance and operations task force personnel from the 91st Missile Wing out of Minot AFB, N.D., integrated with the 576th FLTS to perform operational tasks. Members of the 576th FLTS installed tracking, telemetry and command destruct systems on the missile to collect data and meet 30th Space Wing safety requirements.

"It's really something when you see a truly outstanding team come together," Colonel Buck said. "These are dangerous times we're living in right now. It's extremely important our combatant commander has the capabilities he needs to perform the mission of fighting and winning our nation's wars. Testing an operational asset pulled from the missile field at Minot provides us confidence our weapon system is capable of performing when needed."

The data collected will be used by the entire ICBM community, including the U.S. Strategic Command planners and Department of Energy laboratories.

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quote:

modernized missile guidance set

Does the United States have anything like the ABM evading Russian TOPOL Missile? I'm glad the U.S. has this improved system but it seems like it wont be enough if they can be intercepted by modern ABM systems.