Minuteman III
According to the estimates of the US Air Force command, one of the components of the US strategic nuclear shield – the Minuteman III land-based ICBM needs to be replaced, since many of them have already passed half a century, and their service life is already expiring. After all, they were adopted back in 1970.
The outdated "Minuteman" should be replaced by an ICBM under the conditional name GBSD. According to the publication of the US Air Force Air Force, Northrop Grumman Corporation is engaged in its development. In parallel, the company's specialists are working on the creation of a strategic bomber B-21 Raider, which will replace the outdated B-2 Spirit.
Launching an ICBM
According to the program manager, there are only a few months left before the rocket tests begin. The first ICBM launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base is scheduled for the end of 2023. During its development, the latest digital engineering technologies were used, which will make GBSD faster and allow you to choose the most optimal configuration for it. At the moment, Northrop Grumman engineers, thanks to computer modeling, have already considered about 6 billion rubles. options. According to experts, 400 GBSD will be built as part of the ICBM replacement program. During the first 10 years, the Pentagon will spend $ 61 billion on this. The missile will be equipped with a W87-1 thermonuclear warhead with a capacity of 335 to 350 kilotons.
