Here are some who will compete head to head to build the next missile defense interceptor

EDITOR’S NOTE: This story was updated to include comments from Northrop Grumman, Lockheed Martin, and Boeing.

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

Boeing submitted a bid with team members General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems and Aerojet Rocketdyne to build the next-generation interceptor (NGI), but was not chosen to continue the effort. The company has a long history with the ground route defense system based in Fort Greely, Alaska, and the Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, which has maintained the development and maintenance contract for years.

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

The Pentagon announced in August 2019 its intention to build a new NGI after the redesigned Kill Vehicle (RKV) program – which would improve IBG with the ability to more safely pursue more complex threats – died abruptly. RKV struggled with insurmountable technical problems that caused delays in schedules and cost increases.

About eight months later, MDA launched a call for proposals for its NGI with the goal of reducing the selection to two companies that would compete for the right to build the interceptor.

A team of Northrop Grumman and Raytheon announced their intention to bid together in May 2020.

Lockheed Martin partnered with Aerojet Rocketdyne in October. The company announced plans to buy Aerojet in December.

“The NGI is the result of the department’s first holistic technical assessment of national defenses since the system’s initial operations began in 2004,” Deputy Administrator Jon Hill, director of the NGI, said in a statement. ‘Missile Defense Agency.

“By planning to transport two suppliers through technological development, MDA will maximize the benefits of competition to deliver the most effective and reliable national defense missile to the fighter as soon as possible. Once introduced, this new homeland defense interceptor will be able to defeat the expected advances in threats in the 2030s and beyond, ”he added.

Two competitors were expected to leave for NGI late last year, but approval of the plan was delayed until the defense secretary and deputy secretary of defense of the new Biden administration were in place. .

The NGI program “is fundamental to the protection of our nation. Northrop Grumman and Raytheon Technologies provide an innovative solution that meets the complexity of the threat with advanced technology and industry-leading domain knowledge, which responds to all threat scenarios, ”said Scott Lehr, vice president and CEO of Northrop for missile launch and defense, and Bryan Rosselli, Raytheon vice president of strategic missile defense, said in a statement sent to Defense News.

“We are honored to be selected by the MDA as the lead contractor to develop the NGI system to protect our nation from advanced missile attacks,” Lehr said, adding, “There is a critical timeline for presenting this capability. and our team brings together the talents of missile defense, agile design and state-of-the-art manufacturing practices and operating factories to support the MDA and our nation’s defense against these evolving threats. ”

“We bring together next-generation technologies (digital engineering and game-changing discrimination) for an extremely advanced interceptor,” Rosselli said. “This team is based on an unparalleled experience, representing the 47 previous exoatmospheric interceptions in the US. With this knowledge, we also adopt innovative ways to accelerate operational deployment while reducing risk ”.

Raytheon was the developer of RKV as a Boeing subcontractor.

“We are excited and proud that the MDA has entrusted Lockheed Martin to lead the development of this game-changing system that will greatly improve our nation’s security for decades to come,” said Sarah Reeves, vice president of NGI’s program. Lockheed Martin. statement to Defense News.

The Lockheed program will be headquartered in Huntsville, with Reeves at the helm of the team.

Boeing told Defense News in a statement that it was “disappointed because the United States Missile Defense Agency (MDA) did not advance our team to the next phase of the competition in the development of the Next Generation Interceptor competition (NGI) “. Our proposal to upgrade the current ground-based medium ground defense (GMD) system took advantage of the company’s more than 60 years of experience with missile and weapons systems to deliver an NGI solution that emphasized an innovative design with improved flexibility and modularity.

The company added: “While it is premature to comment on the following steps until we participate in the formal debrief session, it is important to note that today’s announcement does not affect our commitment to the MDA and with the mission of the GMD system. Our dedicated employees and partners will continue to manage the current system and continually explore ways to support combat in an evolving threat environment. ”