Northrop Grumman contract for modification of US Minuteman III Intercontinental Ballistic Missile 12601162

Defence & Security Industry News - Lockheed Martin
 
Northrop Grumman contract for modification of US Minuteman III Intercontinental Ballistic Missile.
Northrop Grumman Space and Mission Systems of Clearfield, UT received a contract modification for $176.2 million, exercising the Minuteman III Intercontinental Ballistic Missile Propulsion Replacement Program’s (PRP) final full rate production (year 7) option.
     
Northrop Grumman Space and Mission Systems of Clearfield, UT received a contract modification for $176.2 million, exercising the Minuteman III Intercontinental Ballistic Missile Propulsion Replacement Program’s (PRP) final full rate production (year 7) option. A Minuteman Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) is delivered to the Air Mobility Command museum at Dover Air Force Base, Del. on Jan. 23rd, 2013.
     
The purpose of PRP (Propulsion Replacement Program’s) is to ensure Minuteman Missile Flight Reliability and supportability of the USA’s LGM-30G Minuteman III nuclear ICBMs (InterContinental Ballistic Missile) external link through 2020 by correcting identified mission threatening degradations, sustaining existing reliability, and supporting Minuteman Life Extension Efforts.

The LGM-30 Minuteman is a US land-based intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), in service with the Air Force Global Strike Command. As of 2014, the LGM-30G Minuteman III version[a] is the only land-based ICBM in service in the United States.

The Minuteman III missile has a maximum range of 13,000 km (8078 miles) and carries a payload of three Reentry Vehicles (RVs).

The Minuteman III entered development in 1966 as an improvement program for the earlier Minuteman missile systems. The system first entered operational service in 1970 and reached a total of 550 missiles for many years, until the LGM-118 Peacemaker program began in 1986. In 1993, 529 Minuteman III missiles remained in service, with 45 reportedly non-operational. In 2007, the U.S. airforce reduced the numbers to 450 with about 50 to 75 in reserve. These 450 Minuteman III are having their service lives extended until 2030.