WASHINGTON, Sept 19: The Pentagon, headquarters of the US Defence Department, has stripped nearly all procurement funding for its Sentinel Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) program from its fiscal year 2026 budget, effectively pausing new purchases after a major cost overrun triggered a full recertification review last year, as per an RIA Novosti analysis of US defence budgets.
The move follows a January 2024 Nunn-McCurdy review, which was initiated after Sentinel’s projected costs ballooned by 81% compared to its 2020 baseline, leading to a “critical cost overrun” amounting to nearly $141 billion.
The bulk of these expense increases was on account of procurement and military construction, as the programme requires extensive upgrades to existing Minuteman III infrastructure, including more than 600 facilities and 450 silos across five states.
Instead of the $86.1 billion procurement projection carried in earlier plans, the FY 2026 request includes only $0.742 million in residual prior-year adjustments -effectively zeroing out new purchases.
Development funding, however, remains intact: about $4.15 billion is allocated for research, development, test, and evaluation, with $2.65 billion in discretionary spending and $1.5 billion in mandatory reconciliation.
The restructuring means that missile procurement will now be deferred until the Air Force completes the Engineering and Manufacturing Development (EMD) phase and settles on a revised acquisition strategy.
That timeline has yet to be updated publicly, though the Pentagon’s budget documents still reflect the old projection of initial operational capability in 2028.
In the meantime, the Air Force has signalled it may need to extend the life of its aging Minuteman III arsenal through 2050 to ensure the United States maintains a viable land-based nuclear deterrent until Sentinel can be fielded.
The Sentinel, formally designated the LGM-35A, is intended to replace the 1970s-era Minuteman III as the ground-based leg of the US nuclear triad.
Beyond deploying the new W87-1 thermonuclear warhead, the program involves a wholesale modernisation of the US’ ICBM infrastructure – which is becoming increasingly dated — and as such incorporates advanced technologies including modular, open-architecture systems for easier upgrades, improved propulsion and guidance, and enhanced cyber resilience.
While the Pentagon insists the programme remains essential to national security, the pause in procurement highlights both the scale of its technical ambition and the fiscal strain of modernising the land-based deterrent at a time of competing defence priorities. (UNI)
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