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OGDEN — Northern Utah continues to bolster its reputation as an aerospace and defense hotbed, this time through Boeing being selected by the U.S. Air Force as the prime contractor for the nation's intercontinental ballistic missile guidance subsystems support.
The 16-year contract is worth up to $1.6 billion and the work will primarily be done in Ogden.
Just last year, Thomas Lockhart, director of engineering and technical management for the Air Force Nuclear Weapons Center at Hill Air Force Base, spoke about how important Utah is when it comes to national defense and security, especially considering the $96 billion intercontinental ballistic missile system, Sentinel.
A release from Boeing said that the contract is "expected to support a significant amount of direct and indirect jobs in the area."
Boeing will be responsible for the around-the-clock readiness and accuracy of Minuteman intercontinental ballistic missile guidance systems — which have logged more than 40 million hours of continuous operation — to ensure safe, secure and effective strategic deterrence into the late 2030s.
Thank you, @USAirForce, for selecting us to lead #ICBM guidance systems support into the late 2030s. We're honored to help ensure peace through strength by delivering precision guidance capabilities in support of safe, secure and effective #strategicdeterrence.
— Boeing Defense (@BoeingDefense) February 1, 2023
"We built the Minuteman's guidance system, so no one knows it like Boeing. Our highly specialized facilities and top-flight engineers enable us to sustain it with unmatched quality and precision," said Ted Kerzie, program director of Strategic Deterrence Systems. "We look forward to continuing our partnership with the Air Force on this all-important mission."
The intercontinental ballistic system has served a crucial role in U.S. nuclear triad (including land-based, air-based and sea-based missile systems) since the beginning of strategic deterrence initiatives with the goal of dissuading enemies from launching a nuclear attack.
"Boeing is the only company that has continuously supported every ICBM subsystem — guidance, ground, propulsion and re-entry — over the lifetime of the system," said a release from Boeing.
