Image source: topwar.ru
The program for the creation of a new American Sentinel intercontinental ballistic missile, which in the future should replace the already repeatedly upgraded Minuteman III ICBM, is entering a new stage. Northrop Grumman has successfully tested a new engine for the first stage of the rocket.
Northrop Grumman reported on successful ground tests of a new solid-fuel engine for a promising ICBM. As reported on the company's website, the engine worked for the required time, all indicators were normal. The next stage will be flight tests of the new engine.
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American Minuteman III ICBMs, created specifically for confrontation with the Soviet Union, have been repeatedly upgraded, but their further use is unsafe. It was decided to create a new rocket. Boeing and Northrop Grumman participated in the tender for the development of a new ICBM, they also received design contracts in 2017. In 2019, Boeing left the project, and Northrop Grumman received a contract and defended the intercontinental missile project in the fall of 2020.
Details of the development of the new ICBM are not disclosed, it is only known that under the terms of the contract, the new ICBM will have to use the Mk.12A and Mk.21 from the Minuteman-III ICBM. Also, the new rocket should be universal, perhaps it will be placed on mobile platforms.
The USAF GBSD (Ground-Based Strategic Deterrent) program assumes the gradual replacement of all 450 Minuteman-III land-based ICBMs from 2027 and is estimated at almost $ 100 billion. Once adopted, the new ICBMs should remain in service with the United States until at least 2075.
