This is who will compete to build the next homeland missile defense interceptor

EDITOR’S NOTE: This story has been updated with comments from Northrop Grumman, Lockheed Martin, and Boeing.

WASHINGTON – The Pentagon has selected Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman to face off in a competition to provide a next-generation interceptor to replace the ground-based interceptors in Alaska and California designed to power the United States. States to defend against ballistic missiles. attacks from North Korea and Iran.

Boeing made an offer with team members General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems and Aerojet Rocketdyne to build the Next-Generation Interceptor (NGI), but was not chosen to go ahead with the effort. The company has an extensive history with the ground-based Midcourse Defense system in Fort Greely, Alaska, and Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, having had the development and maintenance contract for many years.

The contract has an estimated maximum value of $ 1.6 billion through fiscal 2022 and, according to a Pentagon announcement on March 23, will take both designs into the technology development and risk mitigation phase of the program. “This award makes NGI an efficient and effective part of an integrated missile defense system solution,” the statement said.

The Pentagon announced its intention to build a new NGI in August 2019 after the Redesigned Kill Vehicle (RKV) program – which would upgrade the GBI with the ability to more reliably tackle more complex threats – was abrupt. terminated. RKV was faced with insurmountable technical problems that resulted in delayed schedules and cost increases.

About eight months later, MDA published a request for proposals for its NGI with the aim of downselecting two companies who would then compete for the right to build the interceptor.

A team from Northrop Grumman and Raytheon has announced a joint bid in May 2020.

Lockheed Martin teamed up with Aerojet Rocketdyne in October. The company announced its plans to purchase Aerojet in December.

“NGI is the result of the first holistic technical assessment of homeland defense that the division has conducted since the first system operations began in 2004,” Vice Admiral Jon Hill, Missile Defense Agency director, said in the statement.

“By planning to help two vendors through technology development, MDA will maximize the benefits of competition to deliver the most effective and reliable homeland defense missile to the war fighter as soon as possible. Once powered up, this new homeland defense interceptor will be able to defeat the anticipated advance of threats in the 2030s and beyond, ”he added.

The down-selection to two competitors for NGI was expected late last year, but approval of the plan was delayed until the Secretary of Defense and Deputy Secretary of Defense were present in Biden’s new administration.

The NGI program “is of crucial importance to the protection of our country. Northrop Grumman and Raytheon Technologies bring an innovative solution that meets the complexity of the threat with advanced technology and industry-leading domain knowledge that addresses all threat scenarios, ”Scott Lehr, Northrop vice president and general manager for launch and missile defense, and Bryan Rosselli, Raytheon vice president of strategic missile defense, said in a statement to Defense News.

“We are honored to have been selected by the MDA as the prime contractor to develop the NGI system to protect our country from advanced missile attacks,” said Lehr, adding, “there is a critical timeline for applying this capability and our team. brings together the top talent in missile defense, agile design and manufacturing practices, and state-of-the-art operational factories to support the MDA and defend our country against these evolving threats. ”

“We’re bringing next-generation technologies – digital engineering and breakthrough discrimination – together for a state-of-the-art interceptor,” said Rosselli. “This team is building on an unparalleled experience, covering all 47 previous US exo-atmospheric interceptions. With that knowledge, we also embrace innovative ways to accelerate operational deployment while reducing risks. “

Raytheon was the developer for RKV as a subcontractor to Boeing.

“We are delighted and proud that the MDA has entrusted Lockheed Martin to lead the development of this groundbreaking system that will significantly improve the security of our country in the coming decades,” said Sarah Reeves, vice president of the NGI. program at Lockheed Martin, in a statement to Defense News.

Lockheed is headquartered in Huntsville, with Reeves leading the team.

Boeing told Defense News in a statement that “was disappointed that the US Missile Defense Agency (MDA) did not move our team to the next phase of the competition in developing the Next Generation Interceptor (NGI) competition. Our proposal to upgrade the current Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD) system leveraged the company’s more than 60 years of experience in missile and weapon systems to deliver an NGI solution that emphasized a innovative design with improved flexibility and modularity. “

The company added, “While it is premature to comment on the next steps until we participate in the formal debriefing session, it is important to note that today’s announcement will not affect our commitment to the MDA and to the mission of the GMD system. Our dedicated employees and partners will continue to manage the current system and constantly explore ways to support the warfighter in a changing threat environment. “