Here’s who’s going to compete head-to-head to build the next internal missile defense interceptor

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

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

Boeing submitted a proposal 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 an extensive history with the Land-based Midcourse Defense system in place in Fort Greely, Alaska, and at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, and has maintained the development and support contract for years.

The contract has an estimated maximum value of $ 1.6 billion by fiscal year 2022 and will take both projects to the program’s technology development and risk reduction phase, according to a Pentagon announcement on March 23 . “This award will ensure that NGI is an efficient and effective part of an integrated Missile Defense System solution,” says the statement.

The Pentagon announced in August 2019 its intention to build a new NGI after the Redesigned Kill Vehicle (RKV) program – which would update the GBI with the ability to more efficiently pursue more complex threats – was abruptly killed. RKV faced insurmountable technical problems, resulting in schedule delays and increased costs.

Approximately eight months later, the MDA released a request for proposals for its NGI in order to select two companies that would compete for the right to build the interceptor.

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

Lockheed Martin joined Aerojet Rocketdyne in October. The company announced its plans to buy Aerojet in December.

“The NGI is the result of the first holistic technical assessment of internal defenses that the department has conducted since the beginning of the system’s initial operations in 2004,” Vice Admiral Jon Hill, director of the Missile Defense Agency, said in the statement.

“With the plan to transport two suppliers through technology development, the MDA will maximize the benefits of competition to deliver the most effective and reliable national defense missile to the fighter as quickly as possible. Once in the field, this new homeland defense interceptor will be able to defeat the threat advances expected by 2030 and beyond, ”he added.

The selection for two competitors for the NGI was expected at the end of last year, but approval of the plan was delayed until the secretary of defense and the deputy secretary of defense in the new Biden government were in place.

The NGI program “is fundamental to the protection of our nation. Northrop Grumman and Raytheon Technologies bring an innovative solution that addresses the threat complexity with advanced technology and industry-leading domain knowledge that responds to all threat scenarios, ”Scott Lehr, vice president and general manager, launch and Northrop missile defense, and Bryan Rosselli, Raytheon’s 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 main contractor to develop the NGI system to protect our nation from advanced missile attacks,” said Lehr, adding: “There is a critical timeline for putting this capability into the field and our team brings together the best. missile defense talents, agile design and manufacturing practices, and state-of-the-art operational factories to support the MDA and the defense of our nation against these evolving threats. “

“We are bringing together next generation technologies – digital engineering and game-changing discrimination – for an extremely advanced interceptor,” said Rosselli. “This team is building an unparalleled experience, responsible for all 47 previous exo-atmospheric interceptions in the USA. With this knowledge, we are also adopting innovative ways to accelerate operational deployment and, at the same time, reduce risk. “

Raytheon was the developer of the RKV as a Boeing subcontractor.

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

The Lockheed program will be based in Huntsville with Reeves leading the team.

Boeing told Defense News in a statement that “it was disappointed with the United States Missile Defense Agency (MDA) for not having advanced our team to the next phase of the competition in the development of the Next Generation Interceptor (NGI) competition. Our proposal to update the current Ground-Based Midcourse Defense (GMD) system took advantage of the company’s more than 60 years of experience with missile and weapon systems to provide an NGI solution that emphasized an innovative design with enhanced flexibility and modularity. “

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