Aging Minuteman Missiles May Be Needed Until 2050

The U.S. nuclear triad's aging lone land-based missile system may be needed until 2050 due to delays and increasing costs with its planned replacement, according to officials from the air service branch.

Plans call for the Air Force's Minuteman III missiles, developed more than 50 years ago, to be replaced by the new Sentinel ICBM system by 2039. 

However, there won't be a Sentinel deployment schedule until a program restructure is completed next year.

With the transition from the Minutemen to the Sentinels considered the most complex project the service has undertaken, a risk management plan needs to be created, the U.S. Government Accountability Office said.

That plan would outline how to anticipate, analyze, and solve problems such as parts no longer being available for the Minuteman missiles, which are manufactured by Boeing Co.

Air Force officials admitted there are unknowns, such as ground electrical subsystems and electronics, which could degrade to unacceptable levels, Bloomberg reported.

The Minuteman III program office "told us the missile itself is performing well" and "they have enough available to sustain the required ICBMs on alert to 2050, but there are sustainment risks," the GAO said, noting that some classified details were omitted.

The Minuteman III extension would add 11 years to the planned lifetime of the missiles, which have been on alert since the 1970s, Bloomberg reported.

"The transition was planned to begin in fiscal year 2025, but those plans are on hold while the Department of Defense (DOD) restructures the Sentinel program," GAO said in its report.

Francis E. Warren Air Force Base in n Wyoming is the first base scheduled to convert to Sentinel, which is produced by Northrop Grumman Corp.

"While the Air Force has taken some actions to prepare operators, maintainers, and security forces for the transition, the Air Force has not developed a schedule for construction of a Sentinel test facility," GAO said. "The test facility is necessary early in the transition as part of a multistep process to revise policy and instructions that will be needed to prepare security forces for the transition and concurrent operation of Minuteman III and Sentinel."

The Sentinel last year was projected to be deployed starting in May 2029. The first test flight, once projected for December 2023, was delayed to at least March 2028.

The U.S. nuclear triad is the combination of three strategic nuclear delivery systems: intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs), submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs), and strategic bombers.

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