Lockheed Martin has won a new contract and extended a second contract to sustain and modernize the US Air Force’s intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) reentry systems.
The company won a competition in June to produce seven units of reentry field support equipment and four sets of additional support equipment for the Air Force’s Minuteman III ICBM system. The nearly four-year, firm, fixed price contract is valued at $50 million, and work began last month. The equipment will be used by Air Force missile maintainers to support testing and maintenance of all Minuteman III reentry systems.
“Missile maintainers bear great responsibility for our nation’s critical strategic deterrence mission,” said Doug Graham, vice president of Lockheed Martin Missile Systems and Advanced Programs. “We are proud to support their mission and provide airmen with next-generation support equipment to enable them to test and maintain ICBMs with modern technology, supporting Air Force Global Strike Command’s Continuous Force Improvement Program.”
Separately, the Air Force extended an existing weapon system integration contract for ICBM reentry vehicle integration and modernization. The modification increased the contract value by $10.6 million to nearly $107 million over five years.
The contracts build on Lockheed Martin’s 60-year legacy of delivering ICBMs and reentry systems to the Air Force. The company developed the next-generation reentry field support equipment under a contract awarded in 2010 and has since delivered two equipment sets to F.E. Warren Air Force Base, Wyoming.
Lockheed Martin is also modernizing training systems for the Air Force that airmen will use to learn how to maintain Minuteman III reentry vehicles.