Northrop Grumman Begins Construction of Prototype Silo for the LGM-35 Sentinel ICBM

Northrop Grumman has begun construction of a prototype silo for the new Sentinel intercontinental ballistic missile.

The company reported this on its website.

Northrop Grumman and Bechtel, in collaboration with the U.S. Air Force, have begun construction of a prototype launch silo.

The developers aim to accelerate the creation of an innovative modular infrastructure that will reduce overall costs and enable the faster deployment of 450 new launchers.

The company emphasized that engineers moved to the physical construction phase just three months after the military approved the concept. This test model will help verify the structural integrity and the correctness of engineering solutions in practice.

The data obtained will allow potential risks to be eliminated before the start of serial production. Representatives from Northrop Grumman and Bechtel note that this approach will significantly shorten the multi-year process of building silos, increase their security, and make future maintenance as easy as possible.

The project for the promising LGM-35A Sentinel intercontinental ballistic missile will require the construction of new launch silos despite plans to use existing infrastructure.

The Air Force will have to build entirely new silos for the LGM-35A Sentinel intercontinental nuclear-capable missiles, which will add another complication and drive up the cost of the U.S. nuclear modernization program, which has already exceeded its projected budget and timeline.

The Air Force command’s initial plan was to modernize existing silos, which housed Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missiles, to accommodate the new Sentinel missiles. However, practical studies revealed a number of problems with this approach.

A spokesperson reported that tests at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California demonstrated the impracticality of integrating the Sentinel into older silo complexes due to a series of subsequent problems that would lead to even greater delays and budget overruns for the program.

LGM-35 Sentinel

The United States is actively developing the new LGM-35 Sentinel intercontinental ballistic missile, which is intended to completely replace the aging nuclear deterrent arsenal.

This weapon will form the backbone of the ground component of the U.S. nuclear triad and ensure the country’s security through 2075.

The U.S. Air Force plans to deploy 400 such missiles in modernized underground silos starting in the next decade.

Minuteman III missiles have been on combat duty since the Cold War. They have been modernized repeatedly, but the service life of the control systems, engines, and silo infrastructure is gradually coming to an end.

The LGM-35 Sentinel is a three-stage solid-fuel missile. Northrop Grumman engineers have already successfully tested all three stages, demonstrating the reliability of the new propulsion systems.

The missile will be equipped with a modern astro-inertial guidance system, which ensures high accuracy even under conditions of heavy electronic jamming or the absence of satellite communications.

As its warhead, the missile will use W87-0 and W87-1 thermonuclear warheads in new Mk21A warhead units.

Thanks to its modular architecture, the military will be able to easily upgrade the missile’s electronics and components over decades of service without the need for a complete system overhaul.