A 9-digit contract. On Wednesday, the Pentagon announced that aerospace giant Boeing has won a $1.6 billion contract with Washington to supply guidance systems for the Minuteman III Intercontinental ballistic missiles.
The contract, which runs until February 1, 2039, does not provide for a specific number of guidance systems to be delivered by Boeing, said the US Department of Defense, which publishes the contracts awarded to the various suppliers on a daily basis. “The work will be carried out on the Air Force One base in Hill, Utah”, it is further specified.
The Minuteman III, in service for fifty years, is a missile equipped with a warhead which in time of war can carry a nuclear bomb. The Pentagon had carried out a routine test on September 7, but the operation had been announced in advance in order to avoid any aggravation of tensions with Russia in the midst of the conflict in Ukraine.
Missiles distributed in Wyoming, North Dakota and Montana
The unarmed missile was launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California and traveled 6,760 km over the Pacific before crashing into the sea near Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands.
It is the only ground-fired intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) in the United States’ nuclear arsenal. It is installed in launch silos distributed on three American military bases, in Wyoming, North Dakota, and Montana (north of the United States).
Trident missiles, launched from the sea, are deployed on board American submarines while nuclear bombs are carried by strategic bombers.