Defense
U.S. ICBM to Replace 1970s Minuteman May Cost $111 Billion
- Northrop Grumman won initial $13 billion contact last month
- Pentagon weapons buyer approved purchase of 659 missiles
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The Pentagon’s next generation intercontinental ballistic missile program could cost U.S. taxpayers as much as $110.6 billion, according to internal Defense Department estimates, adding to a wave of big-ticket nuclear weapons programs slated for the years ahead.
Ellen Lord, the Pentagon’s undersecretary for acquisition and sustainment, approved the ICBM program going forward and supported the purchase of 659 missiles -- 25 for initial testing and 634 for silos, spares and later testing, according to a Sept. 21 report obtained by Bloomberg News that was marked “Unclassified/For Official Use Only.”