BREAKING: Defense Department Says No Alternative to Troubled ICBM Program
7/8/2024
By Sean Carberry
The Sentinel ICBM program to replace the aging stock of Minuteman III nuclear missiles is so over budget it triggered a law requiring a Defense Department review to justify continuing the program, and the Pentagon has determined there are no viable alternatives to the Sentinel despite its 81-percent cost increase.
On Jan. 18, the Defense Department notified Congress that cost estimates for the fraught program to update the land leg of the nuclear triad had shot past the 25 percent overrun threshold that triggered a critical breach under the Nunn-McCurdy Act. The law states that to avoid cancellation, the undersecretary of defense for acquisition and sustainment must certify among other things that the program is essential to national security and there are no cheaper alternatives.
In a July 8 conference call with reporters, Undersecretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment Dr. William LaPlante said the 120-day review of the program concluded it met all the criteria to avoid cancellation under Nunn-McCurdy.
https://www.nationaldefensemagazine.org/articles/2024/7/8/just-in-defense-department-says-no-alternative-to-troubled-icbm-program
