Sustaining the Minuteman III nuclear ICBM: ~$10B over one 27-year contract with Northrop Grumman (USAspending)
The contract for technical support and integrated sustainment of the Air Force's Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile. A definitive contract that began in July 1998 and ran through November 2025 — 27 years — accumulating about $10 billion ($10,009,419,769). The record is classified "MINUTEMAN III" and "guided-missile technical representative services": a single private contract that kept the land leg of the nuclear deterrent running.
Contract key facts
- RecipientNorthrop Grumman
- Contract value$10,008,567,439 (≈$10.01B)
- BranchDefense-wide
- Awarding agencyDepartment of Defense
- Awarding sub-agencyDefense Contract Management Agency
- Award typeDEFINITIVE CONTRACT
- Period of performance1998-07-01 〜 2025-11-30
- Contract ID (PIID)F4261098C0001
Contract scope (original)
200506!000026!5700!FA8214!OO-ALC/PKME/LMKE !F4261098C0001 !A!N! !Y! !P01502!20041213!20050701!001563738!004179453!016435559!N!NORTHROP GRUMMAN SPACE & MISSI!888 S 2000 E !CLEARFIELD !UT!84015!13850!011!49!CLEARFIELD !DAVIS !UTAH !-000001960000!N!N!000000000000!L014!TECH REP SVCS/GUIDED MISSILES !A2 !MISSILE AND SPACE SYSTEMS !302 !MINUTEMAN III GRP !541330!E! !3! ! !C! ! !20200930!B! ! !A! !A!N!L!2!002!B! !Z!Y!Z! ! !N!C!N! ! ! !A!A!A!A!000!A!C!N! ! ! ! ! ! !0001! !
Key points
- Technical support and integrated sustainment of the Minuteman III ICBM — record classified "MINUTEMAN III," "TECH REP SVCS/GUIDED MISSILES"
- July 1998–November 2025: a single 27-year definitive contract, cumulative ~$10B ($10,009,419,769)
- Originally awarded to TRW; carried over to Northrop Grumman with the 2002 acquisition (performed in Clearfield, Utah — Hill AFB country)
- Money for keeping missiles working, not building them: aging components, part obsolescence, test support
- The record of the land-based deterrent's life-extension era, right up to the Sentinel generational handover
Minuteman III is the land-based leg of the nuclear triad, on alert in underground silos across the Midwest since the 1970s.
The policy decision to keep it in service rather than retire it created contracts like this one: roughly $10 billion spent not on building missiles but on keeping them working — countering the aging of guidance and propulsion, re-sourcing parts whose manufacturers no longer exist, and supporting test launches.
The contract's form is as notable as its size. In 1998 the Air Force consolidated sustainment and modernization of the aging ICBM under a single private prime integrator, and this contract became the vehicle. When original awardee TRW was acquired by Northrop Grumman in 2002, the contract carried over, and modifications accumulated within the same vehicle for a quarter century.
The reality of the U.S. nuclear force is sustained investment in the art of life extension — keeping a Cold War-designed system operational far beyond its design life.
The November 2025 end of performance marks the close of an era: Northrop Grumman won the development of the successor ICBM, Sentinel, in 2020, and the land leg is now mid-generational-transition. This contract is the primary record of the 27-year life-extension age that preceded it.
Why it matters
A rare record that makes the hidden cost of maintaining nuclear forces concrete: one contract, 27 years, ~$10 billion. Life-extension is a pillar of the defense industry on par with manufacturing, and this is essential background for reading the (far larger) Sentinel transition. Cross-read with Northrop Grumman's profile and the defense rankings.
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Sources (primary)
This article is an independent organization based on the U.S. official spending data below. Verify the exact, latest details with the official source.
- USAspending (award details)
- Contract ID (PIID)：F4261098C0001