The top of a Minuteman III missile in Montana, where many of the silos are located on private land. Gettyimages.com
Air Force consolidates missile program management offices
The creation of a new Ballistic Missile Systems Directorate follows the cancellation of a $12 billion systems integration contract tied to a nuclear replacement program.
The Air Force is making several changes as part of its effort replace the aging Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile program after the service branch cancelled a large contract related to it.
The $12 billion Integration Support Contract 2.0 contract was a battle between Guidehouse and incumbent BAE Systems, the incumbent. The Air Force has tried to award the contract twice and protesters have successfully nixed the award both times.
Following the second protest, the Air Force decided in August to cancel the ISC 2.0 contract and start over.
An Air Force spokesperson said the solicitation no longer met the requirements of the program. A new request for proposals is in the works.
The ISC 2.0 contract was to provide sustainment services for Minuteman III and support for the deployment of the new Sentinel missile. The 18-year contract would have covered services such cybersecurity, digital engineering, model-based systems engineering and change management.
However, bigger changes were in the works because the Air Force has announced it is merging the two directorates that were overseeing the missile programs.
It’s important to understand that the Sentinel missile will replace the Minuteman III, plus that the Air Force had a directorate for Sentinel and one for Minuteman.
The merged organization is called the Intercontinental Ballistic Missile Systems Directorate. Under that umbrella is both Sentinel and Minuteman III.
Brig. Gen. William Rogers was named the leader of the new group.
“Placing our ICBM programs under one directorate will help streamline processes, improving how we coordinate with our partners in the nuclear enterprise,” he said in an Aug. 27 release.
The new organization also addresses leadership issues the Air Force saw with Sentinel. In June, the branch fired Sentinel Systems Director Charles Clegg for not following “organizational procedures.”
As the Air Force develops its replacement for ISC 2.0, the current ISC 1.0 contract continues with BAE as the prime.
There is no public timetable for a new contract, an Air Force spokesperson said.