Next-gen ICBM

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"Ground-Based Strategic Deterrent" ... il deputato Garamendi dice: "Non è ancora il momento" ...

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The Air Force should pause the major recapitalization of its intercontinental ballistic missile fleet - a move top military officials strongly oppose - as budgets tighten and other nuclear modernization efforts proceed, a key lawmaker said May 17.
Rep. John Garamendi (D-California), the chairman of the House Armed Services readiness subcommittee who also serves on the strategic forces subcommittee, said he recently visited the Minuteman III wing at F.E. Warren Air Force Base, Wyoming, and is convinced of the need for nuclear modernization. 
However, he said top USAF officials have “confirmed” to him that the ICBMs can be life extended and still remain useful until the late 2030s, at which time a new ICBM “might be necessary,” he said.
“This single, common-sense step could save $37 billion,” Garamendi said during a virtual Arms Control Association event.

... airforcemag.com ... https://www.airforcemag.com/garamendi-pause-gbsd-as-other-nuclear-modernization-efforts-proceed/ ...

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"Ground-Based Strategic Deterrent" ... primo lancio entro il 2023 ...

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The first example of the Ground-Based Strategic Deterrent missile will fly by the end of calendar year 2023 from Vandenberg Space Force Base, Calif., program officials revealed, while emphasizing that there’s no further margin to extend the Minuteman III system without risking the credibility of the intercontinental ballistic missile force.
“We’re … already in critical design review for the subsystems, and we’re months away from first flight,” Air Force GBSD program manager Col. Jason Bartolomei said in an AFA Doolittle Leadership Center virtual forum June 14. 
The GBSD is being developed by Northrop Grumman.
By the end of calendar 2023, Bartolomei said, “we’ll be at Vandenberg, and we’ll be flying the first test flights of the new weapon system.” 
The missile is already flying in a “modeling and simulation environment,” he said.
The GBSD is expected to achieve initial operational capability in 2029 and full operational capability with 400 missiles seven years later in 2036, Bartolomei said. 
GBSDs will be deployed to missile silos an average of once a week for nine years, officials said.

... airforcemag.com ... https://www.airforcemag.com/new-gbsd-will-fly-in-2023-no-margin-left-for-minuteman/ ...

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Dove si parla di "Ground-Based Strategic Deterrent" e di altre cose ...

... airforcemag.com ... https://www.airforcemag.com/new-gbsd-facilities-on-the-path-on-budget/ ...

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Da "Minuteman III" a "Ground Based Strategic Deterrent" ... una transizione da monitorare con la massima attenzione ...

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As the Air Force transitions its nuclear missile force from the Minuteman III to the Ground Based Strategic Deterrent (GBSD) in the coming decade, the Air Force will have to manage a delicate balancing act: simultaneously sustain the legacy force while developing and deploying its replacement.  
“The handoff between Minuteman III and GBSD is the most complex [replacement operation] ever undertaken between two nuclear weapon systems,” said Col. Luke Cropsey, ICBM Systems director ...

... airforcemag.com ... https://www.airforcemag.com/maintain-modernize-ensuring-the-nuclear-deterrent-remains-ready/ ...

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Il ruolo dello Arnold Engineering Development Complex nello sviluppo del "Ground Based Strategic Deterrent" ...

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Arnold Engineering Development Complex has supported the land-based leg of the nation’s nuclear triad, the Minuteman Intercontinental Ballistic Missile, since 1958 when the first iteration was still in development.
As the complex continues to support the Minuteman III program with aging and surveillance testing of stage II and III motors, Team AEDC has begun providing test and evaluation support for the next-generation nuclear deterrent, the Ground Based Strategic Deterrent.
“The Ground Based Strategic Deterrent ICBM is a total weapon system replacement of the Minuteman III weapon system,” said Rick Gamble, a subject matter expert with AEDC.
The Air Force Test Center is the Minuteman III and GBSD lead developmental test and evaluation organization, and AEDC, a wing-equivalent organization within AFTC, is the executing test organization. 
The ICBM Test Branch of AEDC’s Test Division and the GBSD Combined Test Force provide personnel to support ICBM developmental test and evaluation. 
Other branches within the Test Division and the 704th Test Group of AEDC provide the facilities and personnel to perform ground testing.

... arnold.af.mil/News ... https://www.arnold.af.mil/News/Article-Display/Article/2986796/aedc-supporting-ground-based-strategic-deterrent-program-across-the-complex/ ...

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Il "Ground Based Strategic Deterrent" ha ora un nome ... "Sentinel" ...

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The Air Force announced a name and designation for the intercontinental ballistic missile system long known as the Ground-Based Strategic Deterrent: LGM-35A Sentinel (*). 
The name recycles one already given to one of the Air Force’s secret spy drones.
The Sentinel, being developed by Northrop Grumman, is set to replace the Minuteman III as the land leg of the U.S. nuclear triad, beginning with assigned to the new missile program for years now as the Air Force’s modernization efforts have wound their way through Congress and the Pentagon. 
In February 2021, then-Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. John E. Hyten lamented the lack of an official name for the project.

... airforcemag.com ... https://www.airforcemag.com/gbsd-finally-gets-a-name-sentinel/ ...

(*) ... af.mil/News ... https://www.af.mil/News/Article-Display/Article/2990069/air-forces-new-intercontinental-ballistic-missile-system-has-a-name-sentinel/ ...

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LGM-35A Sentinel ... il test del veicolo di rientro per il nuovo missile balistico intercontinentale americano è fallito subito dopo il lancio ...

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Late last night an unarmed test of the Air Force’s new Mk 21A intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) reentry vehicle quickly ended with an explosion 11 seconds after launch at Vandenberg Space Force base in California. 
Nobody was injured, but the failure is a setback for the LGM-35A Sentinel ICBM program that is intended to replace the aging LGM-30 Minuteman III.
According to a press release, the Minotaur II+ rocket launch was supposed to be centered around “demonstrating preliminary design concepts and relevant payload technologies in operationally realistic environments” for the U.S. Air Force’s new Mk 21A reentry vehicle engineered to be carried on the LGM-35A Sentinel ICBM. 
The explosion caused by the failed launch occurred at 11:01 p.m. on Wednesday, July 6. 
An additional release goes on to state that the debris was contained in the immediate vicinity of the launch pad, and the San Luis Obispo Tribune (*) reported that the blast caused a fire to break out on the base which the Vandenberg Fire Department responded to and extinguished by about 1 a.m.

... thedrive.com/the-war-zone ... https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/reentry-vehicle-test-for-americas-new-icbm-failed-just-after-launch ...

(*) ... sanluisobispo.com ... https://www.sanluisobispo.com/news/local/article263241233.html ...

[engine]

Veicolo di rientro da progettare :

https://www.airforce-technology.com/news/lockheed-martin-nets-1bn-deal-for-new-us-icbm-re-entry-vehicle/?cf-view

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Il nuovo ICBM “Sentinel” si trova “in difficoltà” a causa della complessità, secondo quanto afferma il Segretario per l'Aeronautica Frank Kendall ...

... airandspaceforces.com ... https://www.airandspaceforces.com/new-sentinel-icbm-struggling-complexity-kendall/ ...

... defensenews.com ... https://www.defensenews.com/air/2023/11/13/us-air-forces-sentinel-missile-struggling-faces-rising-costs/ ...

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Northrop Grumman ha annunciato di aver collaudato con successo il motore a propellenti solidi del secondo stadio dell'ICBM LGM-35A Sentinel …

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Il 16 Gennaio scorso Northrop Grumman ha annunciato di aver testato con successo il motore a propellenti solidi del secondo stadio del Missile Balistico Intercontinentale LGM-35A Sentinel presso l'Arnold Engineering Development Complex dell'USAF a Tullahoma, Tennessee.
"Il test è stato condotto in una camera a vuoto che simula le condizioni ambientali di volo nel mondo reale che il motore a propellenti solidi sperimenterebbe durante il volo ad alta quota e nello spazio", ha affermato l'Azienda in un comunicato stampa (*).
Northrop Grumman non ha rivelato la data esatta o la durata del test e non è stato possibile contattarla per un commento.

... airandspaceforces.com ... https://www.airandspaceforces.com/northrop-grumman-successful-test-sentinel-second-stage-rocket/ ...

(*) ... news.northropgrumman.com ... https://news.northropgrumman.com/news/releases/northrop-grumman-test-fires-full-scale-sentinel-stage-two-solid-rocket-motor ...

I costi del programma sono però in crescita e si stanno accumulando ulteriori ritardi per il raggiungimento della Capacità Operativa Iniziale (IOC) …

... airandspaceforces.com ... https://www.airandspaceforces.com/new-icbm-critical-cost-schedule-overruns/ ...

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Un'opinione … Pensate che il programma nucleare "Sentinel" sia costoso? … provate a vivere senza …

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L’annuncio dell’USAF in merito alla revisione delle stime dei costi per il programma di deterrenza strategica terrestre "Sentinel" non deve cambiare il vettore finale per modernizzare la vecchia forza nazionale di missili balistici intercontinentali Minuteman III degli anni ’70.
La nostra nazione ha bisogno di mezzi efficaci per scoraggiare le minacce nucleari.
Ecco perché gli Stati Uniti hanno mantenuto una triade nucleare credibile – bombardieri con capacità nucleare, sottomarini e missili balistici intercontinentali – fin dai primi giorni della Guerra Fredda.
È giunto il momento di modernizzare questa impresa e il programma "Sentinel" rappresenta una componente chiave di tale impegno.

... defensenews.com ... https://www.defensenews.com/opinion/2024/01/23/think-the-sentinel-nuclear-program-is-pricey-try-living-without-it/ ...

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Tutte le opzioni sul tavolo per coprire il divario di 35 miliardi di Dollari sul Missile Balistico Intercontinentale "Sentinel" …

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L'USAF non è ancora sicura di come colmerà il divario di 35 miliardi di Dollari tra il costo previsto del Missile Balistico Intercontinentale "Sentinel" e la stima recentemente rivista, ma nessun approccio è ancora stato escluso, hanno riferito ai giornalisti gli alti dirigenti del servizio in occasione dell'AFA Warfare Symposium.
"Non posso togliere nulla dal tavolo in questo momento", ha detto il Segretario per l'Aeronautica Frank Kendall su come finanziare il superamento di "Sentinel", venuto alla luce a Gennaio quando l'USAF ha notificato al Congresso una violazione della legge "Nunn-McCurdy" .
Secondo la legge "Nunn-McCurdy", il Pentagono è tenuto ad informare i Legislatori se un programma comporta un costo o un superamento della pianificazione superiore al 15%.
"Sentinel" ha sperimentato entrambe le situazioni.

... airandspaceforces.com ... https://www.airandspaceforces.com/kendall-options-fund-sentinel-icbm-overrun/ ...

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Nel frattempo … Northrop Grumman porta avanti la fase di progettazione del "Sentinel" con test chiave …

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Northrop Grumman Corporation ha completato con successo i test di diversi elementi cruciali del Missile Balistico Intercontinentale (ICBM) "Sentinel", segnando un progresso significativo per il programma nella sua fase di ingegneria, produzione e sviluppo.
Le sezioni anteriore e posteriore di un ICBM "Sentinel" sono state valutate attraverso una rigorosa campagna di test presso lo "Strategic Missile Test and Production Complex" dell'azienda a Promontory, Utah.
I test riducono il rischio per il programma con dati importanti sulla dinamica strutturale del missile in volo.
I dati dei test aiutano i team di ingegneri a sviluppare modelli, ridurre i rischi e garantire il successo del volo.

... news.northropgrumman.com ... https://news.northropgrumman.com/news/releases/northrop-grumman-advances-sentinel-design-phase-with-key-tests ...

Anche qui ... aresdifesa.it ... https://aresdifesa.it/prosegue-lo-sviluppo-del-nuovo-missile-intercontinentale-sentinel/ ...