Nuclear estimate: how the United States intends to replace the arsenal of Minuteman III ballistic missiles

The US Department of Defense has increased the cost estimate for replacing silo-based intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) LGM-30G Minuteman III to $ 95.8 billion, the Associated Press reports, citing a statement from officials.

Previously, the amount of projected costs was $ 85 billion.

The complete replacement of the Minuteman III arsenal is part of the United States' nuclear triad modernization program, the total cost of which is more than $ 1.2 trillion.

The dismantling of the Minuteman III and the installation of next-generation ICBMs are scheduled to begin in 2029.

At the same time, the Pentagon expects to improve 450 mine launch complexes.

As the head of the US Air Force Global Strike Command, Timothy Ray, said earlier, the main goal is to continue to fully ensure the safety, reliability and efficiency of American systems.

The US military commissioned the creation of a new ICBM to Northrop Grumman Corporation, which recently included the manufacturer of solid-propellant rocket engines Orbital ATK (now Northrop Grumman Innovation Systems).

In September 2020, the company announced a $ 13.3 billion contract with the Pentagon. The bulk of the work will be carried out at the corporation's facilities in the cities of Roy and Promontory (Utah).

In addition to Northrop Grumman, more than ten large enterprises are involved in the development: Lockheed Martin, Textron Systems, Honeywell, Aerojet Rocketdyne, Bechtel, Clark Construction, Collins Aerospace, General Dynamics, HDT Global, Kratos Defense and L3 Harris.

A promising American ICBM will enter the arsenal of the United States Air Force.

Almost nothing is known about its characteristics.

"An insurmountable challenge for any adversary except Russia"

According to experts interviewed by RT, the update of the estimate for replacing Minuteman III is associated not only with the general tendency to increase the US military budget, but also with the US attempts to level the technological gap with Russia in the ground component of the nuclear triad.

“Here, in many respects, there is an activation of lobbying groups.

In addition, the United States wants to respond to the modernization of Russian strategic forces with an attempt to create more advanced weapons, ”Sergei Sudakov, a corresponding member of the Academy of Military Sciences, said in an interview with RT.

According to the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, by the mid-2020s, missile systems produced by the USSR will be replaced with the latest Russian ones in all Strategic Missile Forces formations.

That is, the share of modern ICBMs will reach 100%.

Today, the arsenal of the strategic forces of the Russian Federation still includes the Soviet complexes "Voevoda", "Stilet" and "Topol".

Intensive renewal is taking place due to the supply of Yars and Topol-M solid-propellant ballistic missiles, and in the coming years, the Sarmat heavy liquid-propellant ICBM will be adopted.

At the same time, the American Minuteman III has been in service for more than half a century.

From the information of the Pentagon, it follows that the silo launchers of these ICBMs are deployed at Warren (Wyoming), Malmstrom (Montana) and Minot (North Dakota) airbases.

In total, the US arsenal has about 400 of these missiles.

• Launch of the LGM-30G Minuteman III rocket

• © US Department of Defense

Minuteman III is a three-stage solid-propellant ICBM with a range of over 6 thousand miles (over 9.6 thousand km).

The rocket was developed by the Boeing Corporation.

It was assumed that the strategic complex would be on alert for ten years, but its service life was constantly extended.

As military expert Yuri Knutov explained in an interview with RT, Minuteman III was regularly upgraded by replacing the fuel mixture and installing new warheads.

Nevertheless, the Americans still failed to improve the missile to the level of the new Russian ICBMs.

“The United States is currently working on a new ground-based missile called GBSD (Ground Based Strategic Deterrent - a ground-based weapon system for providing strategic deterrence.

).

It will be identical in size to the Minuteman III, but surpass it in accuracy and range.

True, if we talk about the Russian "Sarmat", then the American ICBM of the new generation is clearly not a competitor to it, "Knutov emphasized.

According to experts, overseas, the question of eliminating the ICBM arsenal has repeatedly arisen due to the high cost of its modernization and operation.

For example, in 2016, The New York Times published an article by former US Secretary of Defense William Perry, in which he expressed the opinion that the ground component of the American nuclear triad was key during the Cold War, but has now lost its relevance.

According to the former Pentagon chief, the planned costs of modernizing the nuclear triad in the future may lead to insufficient funding for conventional armed forces, which will not allow them to maintain their competitiveness.

In addition, he believes that this will deprive the United States of the ability to allocate sufficient funds to create means of combating terrorism and cyber attacks.

From Perry's point of view, the country's leadership must decide to eliminate land-based ICBMs.

According to him, maintaining the Minuteman III arsenal only creates the risk of starting a nuclear war due to human or technical error.

The ex-defense minister is confident that the US Armed Forces can easily get by with submarine ballistic missiles and bombers.

However, the arguments of Perry and his supporters were rejected by the Pentagon.

In 2018, the United States Department of Defense published the Nuclear Posture Review, a doctrine defining a long-term strategy for nuclear weapons, committing to retain the ground-based component of the triad and aiming to replace old silo-based ICBMs with new ones.

In the opinion of the American military leadership, ground-based intercontinental ballistic missiles have not lost their significance as an instrument for ensuring the country's national security.

At the same time, the Pentagon admits that silo launchers can hypothetically be destroyed by Russian weapons.

“Intercontinental ballistic missiles have high survivability in the event of any attack, except for a large-scale nuclear strike.

To destroy American ground-based ICBMs, the enemy will need to launch a carefully coordinated strike using hundreds of high-yield precision warheads.

Today it is an insurmountable challenge for any potential adversary, except Russia, "- says the US Nuclear Posture Review.