New Air Force Nuclear-Armed ICBMs to Deploy by 2029

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By Kris Osborn – Warrior Maven

The Pentagon will have new, upgraded nuclear-armed Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles operational by 2029, launching a new era in nuclear weapons technology — to include improved targeting, guidance technology and overall resilience against enemy attacks and attempted intercepts.

The Air Force plans to fire off new prototype ICBMs in the early 2020s, assessing new ICBMs with improved range, durability, targeting technology and overall lethality when compared to the existing arsenal. The new arsenal of ICBMs will serve well into the 2070s – called Ground Based Strategic Deterrent, or GBSD. The service has at times been discussing the progress of the program, but is now specifying when the new weapons will be ready.

The goal of the program is both clear and self-evident, as described in an Air Force report by Maj. Gen. Shaun Morris, Strategic Systems Program Executive Officer. In the service’s official 2018 Annual Acquisition Report, Morris described the purpose of the program as “ensuring our strategic deterrent is never doubted and always feared.” “Fear,” in fact, forms the basis of strategic deterrence – as knowledge of assured retaliatory destruction keeps potential enemies from contemplating a first strike. For this reason, as Morris’ reasoning goes, the threat of nuclear attack must be modern, effective and sustianable.

The timeline of the weapons systems, which is slated to be operational within a decade, is also crucial, according to Morris, who said “The Air Force Nuclear Weapons Center is focused on building schedule margin and reducing schedule risk to deliver our major nuclear recapitalization programs with time certainty,” according to a written statement in the report.

Given the aging arsenal of Minuteman III ICBMs, this program is taking center stage for the Air Force. The service has awarded two developmental deals to Northrop Grumman and Boeing and may fire off early prototypes as soon as next year, Air Force weapons developers have told Warrior.

“Our land-based ICBMs were designed in the 60s and began to be put in place in the early ‘70s. We are still operating the same systems. We have parts obsolescence — so the plan relies upon bringing GBSD ino the system so we can offset some of these old systems,” Retired Lt. Gen. David Deptula, Dean of The Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies – and Warrior Maven contributor – told Warrior.