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Northrop Grumman has successfully completed tests for several components of the US Air Force LGM-35 Sentinel, Intercontinental Ballistic Missile system.
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These successful tests mark the latest progress for the program, which has garnered recent publicity for further cost overruns and capability delivery.
Northrop Grumman successfully tested sections of the forward and aft of the missile through a rigorous test campaign at the company’s Strategic Missile Test and Production Complex in Promontory, Utah.
Sarah Willoughby, vice-president and program manager, Sentinel, Northrop Grumman, said, “Working with the Air Force and our team of suppliers, we put key elements of the missile’s hardware to the test to mature our design and lower risk. The shroud fly-off test proved our modelling predictions are solid, while the missile stack test demonstrated inflight missile performance, helping validate assumptions and fine-tune models.”
The tests lower risk for the program with important data about the missile’s inflight structural dynamics; data from the tests help engineering teams mature models, lower risk and ensure flight success.
The shroud fly-off and missile modal tests were part of the company’s engineering, manufacturing, and development (EMD) or design contract for Sentinel.
Northrop Grumman is closely partnered with the US Air Force as the EMD phase progresses and key milestones are achieved.
“These successes give us confidence as we continue progressing on the path to deliver a safe, secure and reliable capability to the nation,” Willoughby added.
The Sentinel program is a modernisation of the United States’ ground-based leg of the strategic triad and is planned to be viable through 2075.
Northrop Grumman leads a nationwide team for Sentinel’s EMD contract. The team is responsible for designing the most technologically advanced portion of America’s ground-based strategic deterrent (GBSD).
