Northrop Grumman Corporation has successfully completed tests of several elements of the Sentinel intercontinental ballistic missile.

Forward and aft sections of a Sentinel ICBM were evaluated through a test campaign at the company’s Strategic Missile Test and Production Complex in Promontory, Utah.

The tests lower risk for the program with important data about the missile’s inflight structural dynamics. Test data helps engineering teams mature models, lower risk and ensure flight success, according to Northrop Grumman.

The shroud fly-off and missile modal tests were part of the company’s engineering, manufacturing, and development, or design, contract for Sentinel.

According to Northrop Grumman, the tests mark significant progress for the program in its engineering, manufacturing and development phase.

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“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 modeling predictions are solid, while the missile stack test demonstrated inflight missile performance, helping validate assumptions and fine-tune models. These successes give us confidence as we continue progressing on the path to deliver a safe, secure and reliable capability to the nation,” Sarah Willoughby said in a release. She’s the company’s vice president and program manager for Sentinel.

The Air Force is replacing the aging Minuteman III missile system with Sentinel, which is expected to last through 2075.

Components and subsystems of Minuteman have been upgraded since it first became operational in the early 1970s but most of the fundamental infrastructure uses the original equipment, according to the Air Force.

The land-based nuclear deterrent ICBM system includes 400 deployed missiles, 450 silos and more than 600 facilities across nearly 40,000 square miles over six states, three operational wings and a test location.

Multiple major projects ongoing at Malmstrom; preparing for Sentinel

At Malmstrom, there will be construction and renovation on base to support Sentinel command, communications, maintenance, training and storage facilities, according to AFGSC.

Off base, the project includes renovating 15 missile alert facilities and 150 launch facilities and constructing 31 communication towers, according to AFGSC.

It will require acquiring easements to install and maintain 1,277 miles of new utility corridors; and install and maintain additional utilities within 1,750 miles of existing utility corridors.

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For Malmstrom, the project includes establishing two workforce hubs, one in Great Falls and one in Lewistown.

Each hub will be 50-60 acres with 2,500 to 3,000 residents during peaks for three to five years, according to AFGSC.

The hubs will have their own dining facility, gym, recreation center and be completely contained within a fenced area. Northrop Grumman, the contractor, will provide security, patrol the area and control access, according to Malmstrom.

The Air Force will also establish construction laydown/staging areas in Augusta, Denton, Judith Gap, Lewistown, Stanford, Vaughn and Winifred.

Construction on Sentinel project set to begin

Those areas will be about 13 acres in size and in place for three to five years, according to AFGSC.

The Air Force contractor will coordinate with local governments before selecting sites for the temporary facilities and obtain permits as necessary to meet local zoning requirements.

The Sentinel project is progressing and on Jan. 12, the Air Force and Northrop Grumman conducted a static fire test for the Stage 2-solid rocket motor for the weapon system in Tennessee.

This closed chamber test is the second in a series of static fire tests during Sentinel’s development to validate the design and performance of Sentinel’s three-stage propulsion system. The Stage-2 SRM is the second largest of Sentinel’s three stages and the second SRM to fire following the missile’s launch, according to a release from AFGSC.

Photo courtesy Northrop Grumman