An artist’s portrayal of the Northrop Grumman LGM-35A Sentinel ICBM. (Northrop Grumman)

The US Air Force’s (USAF’s) LGM-35A Sentinel intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) programme is to cost at least 37% more and enter service two years later than anticipated, the USAF said in a 19 January statement.

The Program Acquisition Unit Cost (PAUC) has increased from a projected USD118 million in 2020 to roughly USD162 million per missile in December 2023. Most of the overrun is due to cost increases in the command-and-control (C2) and missile silo infrastructure, the USAF said. The missile’s initial entry into service is now delayed until 2028 or later from 2026.

The LGM-35A programme entails extensive reconstruction of missile silos and C2 centres designed for the LGM-30G Minuteman III ICBM, which first entered service in 1962. According to the USAF statement, the Sentinel programme entails building over 400 launch facilities, including thousands of miles of fibre-optic cable, 7,500 miles of utility corridors, and a flurry of real estate easements with hundreds of landowners.