Northrop Completes Design Review of Ground Based Strategic Deterrent ICBM System

Northrop Grumman has completed final design review of the US Air Force’s Ground Based Strategic Deterrent (GBSD) intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) system.

“Northrop Grumman Corporation successfully completed its fourth and final major design review with the U.S. Air Force under the technology maturation and risk reduction (TMRR) phase of the Ground Based Strategic Deterrent (GBSD) program,” the company said in a release Friday.

The GBSD is an estimated $63 billion 20-year program to replace more than 400 aging Minuteman 3 ICBMs. In December 2019, the USAF confirmed that Northrop Grumman is the only bidder for the program.

“The Air Force only received one proposal in response to a solicitation for GBSD engineering and manufacturing development and early production and deployment,” Air Force spokeswoman Ann Stefanek said in a statement. “The Air Force will proceed with an aggressive and effective sole-source negotiation. We remain on track for a contract award in the fourth quarter of Fiscal Year 2020.”

The preliminary design review (PDR) is a technical assessment of the entire weapon system approach that is required to conclude the three-year TMRR effort, and inform the next phase of the GBSD program, the engineering and manufacturing development (EMD) phase.

In addition to PDR, the company has concluded system requirements review, system functional review, and software specification review.

PDR completion validated that Northrop Grumman’s GBSD preliminary design is ready to enter the EMD phase having reduced technical risk through prototypes, validated schedule and cost estimates, evaluated manufacturing processes and refined requirements, the company said.