Northrop Grumman announced the successful test firing of the second-stage solid-rocket motor for the LGM-35A Sentinel nuclear missile. The full-scale static fire test took place at the U.S. Air Force’s Arnold Engineering Development Complex in Tennessee. Northrop Grumman will study the data from this test to determine how well the motor’s actual performance matched predictions.
Sarah Willoughby, a Northrop Grumman vice president and Sentinel program manager, stated that the test’s data provides an accurate reading of the design’s performance and will inform future modeling and designs.
Sentinel is the Air Force’s program to build a new nuclear-armed intercontinental ballistic missile to succeed the aging LGM-30G Minuteman III. The program is expected to cost a total of about $100 billion, and Northrop Grumman received a $13.3 billion contract in 2020 to build Sentinel.
But the Government Accountability Office in June 2023 reported the program was experiencing staffing shortfalls, supply chain issues, and software challenges, leading to a projected delay in the weapon’s rollout.
Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall expressed concerns about the development of Sentinel, stating that the program is “struggling” and its costs may rise. The sheer scale and complexity of Sentinel is daunting, and Northrop now plans to start a series of rocket motor qualification tests for both the first and second stages of the missile.
