The U.S. Air Force’s new intercontinental ballistic missile program is at risk of blowing past its initial $96 billion cost estimate by so much that the overruns may trigger a review on whether to terminate the project.
By one estimate, each of the ICBMS and related expenses, such as silo construction, may cost as much as 50% more than the current estimate of $118 million in 2020, not adjusted for inflation. In theory, that could bring the cost for the 659 missiles planned to almost $117 billion.
The Sentinel project, developed and managed by Northrop Grumman, is meant to replace 1970s-era Minuteman III missiles as part of a modernization of all three legs of the air-land-sea triad of nuclear weapons, in part to counter China’s expanding arsenal.