Sentinel flight test delayed more than 2 years
The ICBM program is facing a massive cost overrun and program delays.
AUDREY DECKER | MARCH 28, 2024
AIR FORCE MISSILES
The U.S. Air Force’s new intercontinental ballistic missile won’t have its first flight test until February 2026, documents show, putting the costly program further behind schedule.
The new date is a significant delay from last year’s budget documents, which put the LGM-35A Sentinel ICBM program’s first flight test at December 2023.
An Air Force spokesperson confirmed the delay and said it was pushed back because of “increased lead times for guidance computer components.”
The Pentagon is reassessing the entire Sentinel program after the program exceeded cost projections by 37 percent—and now totals almost $132 billion. Because the overruns breached the Nunn-McCurdy Act threshold, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin will have to certify the program to stop it from being canceled.
The ICBM program is facing a massive cost overrun and program delays.
AUDREY DECKER | MARCH 28, 2024
https://www.defenseone.com/technology/2024/03/sentinel-flight-test-delayed-more-two-years/395313/
