Pentagon Accelerates ICBM-Killing Next-Gen Interceptor for 2027

By Kris Osborn, President, Center for Military Modernization

Faster, longer-range, more precise and capable of destroying multiple ICBMs at one time are merely a few of the characteristics expected to define the Pentagon’s new Next-Generation Interceptor effort, a fast-evolving, high-tech effort to keep pace with the growing nuclear threat landscape.

The intent with NGI, according to Pentagon and Missile Defense Agency data, is to build a new, more capable follow-on ICBM defensive weapon to succeed the current Ground Based Interceptor. While the GBIs are functional and continue to perform well in tests and receive upgrades, the Pentagon and MDA believe a new generation of interceptor technology is necessary to counter new nuclear threats posed by Russia and China.

In 2021, the MDA awarded development deals to a Northrop-Grumman-Raytheon NGI team and a Lockheed Martin-Aerojet Rocketdyne team. The initial thinking was perhaps that an operational new NGI might arrive by the end of the decade, however now the expectation is that a new NGI could be deployed by as soon as 2027, given the promise of the program.

The Northrop-Grumman-Raytheon team just completed its “Preliminary Design Review” for its NGI offering, a critical and necessary step to enable the intended deployment acceleration up to 2027. For its PDR, Northrop used on-site, interactive demonstrators to show the Missile Defense Agency full-scale rocket motors, avionics and other “test hardware.”

“The PDR (Preliminary Design Review) established the technical approach for the full integration of Northrop Grumman’s interceptor design across all subsystems to move into more advanced phases of development,” a Northrop Grumman essay states.

Northrop Grumman’s essay on NGI makes specific reference to its partner Raytheon and its long-standing expertise with “kill vehicle” technology in the realm of missile defense.