{"id":68281,"date":"2024-07-08T20:41:00","date_gmt":"2024-07-08T20:41:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2024\/07\/08\/pentagon-keeps-commitment-to-sentinel-nuclear-missile-as-costs-balloon\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T01:10:03","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T01:10:03","slug":"pentagon-keeps-commitment-to-sentinel-nuclear-missile-as-costs-balloon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/air\/2024\/07\/08\/pentagon-keeps-commitment-to-sentinel-nuclear-missile-as-costs-balloon\/","title":{"rendered":"Pentagon keeps commitment to Sentinel nuclear missile as costs balloon"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The military will continue developing its new LGM-35A Sentinel intercontinental ballistic missile<\/a> but has told the U.S. Air Force to restructure the program to get its ballooning costs under control.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even a \u201creasonably modified\u201d version of the Northrop Grumman-made Sentinel<\/a> will likely cost $140.9 billion, 81% more than the program\u2019s original cost estimate of $77.7 billion, the Pentagon said in a statement. If Sentinel continues on its current path without being modified, the likely cost will be about $160 billion, it said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And the military expects restructuring the program will delay it by several years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere are reasons for this cost growth, but there are also no excuses,\u201d William LaPlante, undersecretary of defense for acquisition and sustainment, said in a conference call with reporters on Monday. \u201cWe fully appreciate the magnitude of the costs, but we also understand the risks of not modernizing our nuclear forces and not addressing the very real threats we confront.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Sentinel is intended to replace the Air Force\u2019s half-century old Minuteman III nuclear missile, which is nearing the end of its life. In January, the Air Force announced Sentinel\u2019s future costs were projected to run over budget severely enough to trigger a review process known as a critical Nunn-McCurdy breach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Such a review can sometimes lead to a program being canceled. LaPlante said Monday he decided to proceed with Sentinel after concluding it met several criteria, including that it is essential to national security and there were no cheaper alternatives that would meet the military\u2019s operational requirements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Big changes are coming for Sentinel, however. LaPlante rescinded the program\u2019s Milestone B approval, which in September 2020 authorized the program to move into its engineering and manufacturing development phase. He also ordered the Air Force to restructure the program to address the root causes of the cost overruns and make sure it has the right management structure to keep its future price down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The per-unit total cost for Sentinel was originally $118 million in 2020, when its cost, schedule and performance goals were set. When the Nunn-McCurdy breach was announced in January, those per-unit costs had grown at least 37% to about $162 million.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hunter said the per-unit cost for the revised Sentinel program \u2014 which include components in addition to its missiles \u2014 is estimated to be about $214 million. He said the estimates from the Pentagon\u2019s Cost Assessment and Program Evaluation, or CAPE, office came with a 50% confidence level, meaning the costs could end up higher or lower.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Andrew Hunter, the Air Force\u2019s assistant secretary for acquisition, technology and logistics, said he agreed with LaPlante\u2019s decision and pledged to draw up a plan for restructuring Sentinel over the next few months and get to a new Milestone B approval. The entire process for revising the program and getting the Pentagon to approve its new plan, cost and schedule will likely take 18 to 24 months, Hunter said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Command and launch<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

LaPlante and Hunter said most of the projected overruns are coming from Sentinel\u2019s command and launch segment, which will include its missile silos and accompanying launch control centers where airmen operate the ICBMs. Revamping that segment will be a major part of the Air Force\u2019s cost control effort, they said, as well as improving its systems engineering and changing how its contract is structured.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

LaPlante said changes will include a \u201cscaling back\u201d of the launch facilities to make them smaller, simpler and more cost-effective. Paring down the launch facilities will also shorten the timeline needed to transition from the existing Minuteman III system and the new Sentinel facilities, he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hunter said the new Sentinel facilities will need more communications infrastructure beyond the 7,500 miles of copper cabling now in use for the Minuteman silos and launch centers. The Air Force\u2019s planned modifications to Sentinel include more affordable ways to do that work, he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a statement, Northrop Grumman said it \u201cis making important progress on this highly complex weapon system,\u201d and continuing to achieve milestones to mature its design and reduce risk to prepare for production and deployment in the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Northrop said those milestones include designing and developing Sentinel\u2019s facilities, support equipment and missile, and tests of components such as its nose cone and three booster stages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe continue to perform and meet our commitments under the EMD contract as we move toward delivery of this essential national security capability,\u201d Northrop Grumman said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

LaPlante said that in \u201chindsight,\u201d the department didn\u2019t originally have enough information on how complicated Sentinel\u2019s ground-based systems would be to accurately estimate its costs. In the nearly four years since, the Pentagon has much better information on hand, he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Air Force also set up a committee chaired by its most senior leaders to oversee its nuclear enterprise, including its bombers, ICBMs and command-and-control, Hunter said. And the department dedicated a program executive officer to be in charge of ICBMs, set up a Nuclear Systems Center, and is changing the leadership of the Air Force Nuclear Weapons Center from a two-star general to a three-star general, he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hunter said the Air Force will \u201cdo what it takes to sustain Minuteman III to meet these warfighter requirements in the interim.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gen. Jim Slife, the Air Force\u2019s vice chief of staff, said Sentinel\u2019s cost growth is not expected to kick in during the next five years, and the hardest choices on what to cut won\u2019t be made until after the program\u2019s new baseline is set.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt is a decision for down the road, to decide what trade offs we\u2019re going to need to make,\u201d Slife said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Even a modified version of the Sentinel ICBM will be 81% more expensive than the program’s original costs.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":118286,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":7,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":{"4":{"categories":["pentagon-congress","newsletters","daily-news-roundup","news"],"primary_category":"pentagon-congress"},"8":{"categories":["govcon","home","contracting"],"primary_category":"govcon"},"9":{"categories":["industry","home"],"primary_category":"industry"}}},"categories":[7,160,12,36],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3412],"class_list":["post-68281","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-air","category-daily-news-roundup","category-industry","category-newsletters"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"MAVM3FWPOJEU3ASVPDKUNBQ4PA","arc_canonical_url":"\/air\/2024\/07\/08\/pentagon-keeps-commitment-to-sentinel-nuclear-missile-as-costs-balloon\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"\nPentagon keeps commitment to Sentinel nuclear missile as costs balloon - Defense News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Even a modified version of the Sentinel ICBM will be 81% more expensive than the program's original costs.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Pentagon keeps commitment to Sentinel nuclear missile as costs balloon\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Even a modified version of the Sentinel ICBM will be 81% more expensive than the program's original costs.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/air\/2024\/07\/08\/pentagon-keeps-commitment-to-sentinel-nuclear-missile-as-costs-balloon\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Defense News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-07-08T20:41:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-08-08T01:10:03+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Stephen Losey\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Stephen Losey\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\n\t \"@context\": \"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\n\t \"@graph\": [\n\t {\n\t \"@type\": \"Article\",\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/air\\\/2024\\\/07\\\/08\\\/pentagon-keeps-commitment-to-sentinel-nuclear-missile-as-costs-balloon\\\/#article\",\n\t \"isPartOf\": {\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/air\\\/2024\\\/07\\\/08\\\/pentagon-keeps-commitment-to-sentinel-nuclear-missile-as-costs-balloon\\\/\"\n\t },\n\t \"author\": {\n\t \"name\": \"migration\",\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/cc76c831bb37a926738c8391fca7a3b1\"\n\t },\n\t \"headline\": \"Pentagon keeps commitment to Sentinel nuclear missile as costs balloon\",\n\t \"datePublished\": \"2024-07-08T20:41:00+00:00\",\n\t \"dateModified\": \"2026-08-08T01:10:03+00:00\",\n\t \"mainEntityOfPage\": {\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/air\\\/2024\\\/07\\\/08\\\/pentagon-keeps-commitment-to-sentinel-nuclear-missile-as-costs-balloon\\\/\"\n\t },\n\t \"wordCount\": 945,\n\t \"commentCount\": 0,\n\t \"publisher\": {\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/#organization\"\n\t },\n\t \"image\": {\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/air\\\/2024\\\/07\\\/08\\\/pentagon-keeps-commitment-to-sentinel-nuclear-missile-as-costs-balloon\\\/#primaryimage\"\n\t },\n\t \"thumbnailUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/SentinelMissile_Hero_Angle-0021.jpg.jpg\",\n\t \"articleSection\": [\n\t \"Air Warfare\",\n\t \"Daily News Roundup\",\n\t \"Industry\",\n\t \"Newsletters\"\n\t ],\n\t \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t \"potentialAction\": [\n\t {\n\t \"@type\": \"CommentAction\",\n\t \"name\": \"Comment\",\n\t \"target\": [\n\t \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/air\\\/2024\\\/07\\\/08\\\/pentagon-keeps-commitment-to-sentinel-nuclear-missile-as-costs-balloon\\\/#respond\"\n\t ]\n\t }\n\t ]\n\t },\n\t {\n\t \"@type\": \"WebPage\",\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/air\\\/2024\\\/07\\\/08\\\/pentagon-keeps-commitment-to-sentinel-nuclear-missile-as-costs-balloon\\\/\",\n\t \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/air\\\/2024\\\/07\\\/08\\\/pentagon-keeps-commitment-to-sentinel-nuclear-missile-as-costs-balloon\\\/\",\n\t \"name\": \"Pentagon keeps commitment to Sentinel nuclear missile as costs balloon - Defense News\",\n\t \"isPartOf\": {\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/#website\"\n\t },\n\t \"primaryImageOfPage\": {\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/air\\\/2024\\\/07\\\/08\\\/pentagon-keeps-commitment-to-sentinel-nuclear-missile-as-costs-balloon\\\/#primaryimage\"\n\t },\n\t \"image\": {\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/air\\\/2024\\\/07\\\/08\\\/pentagon-keeps-commitment-to-sentinel-nuclear-missile-as-costs-balloon\\\/#primaryimage\"\n\t },\n\t \"thumbnailUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/SentinelMissile_Hero_Angle-0021.jpg.jpg\",\n\t \"datePublished\": \"2024-07-08T20:41:00+00:00\",\n\t \"dateModified\": \"2026-08-08T01:10:03+00:00\",\n\t \"description\": \"Even a modified version of the Sentinel ICBM will be 81% more expensive than the program's original costs.\",\n\t \"breadcrumb\": {\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/air\\\/2024\\\/07\\\/08\\\/pentagon-keeps-commitment-to-sentinel-nuclear-missile-as-costs-balloon\\\/#breadcrumb\"\n\t },\n\t \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t \"potentialAction\": [\n\t {\n\t \"@type\": \"ReadAction\",\n\t \"target\": [\n\t \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/air\\\/2024\\\/07\\\/08\\\/pentagon-keeps-commitment-to-sentinel-nuclear-missile-as-costs-balloon\\\/\"\n\t ]\n\t }\n\t ]\n\t },\n\t {\n\t \"@type\": \"ImageObject\",\n\t \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/air\\\/2024\\\/07\\\/08\\\/pentagon-keeps-commitment-to-sentinel-nuclear-missile-as-costs-balloon\\\/#primaryimage\",\n\t \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/SentinelMissile_Hero_Angle-0021.jpg.jpg\",\n\t \"contentUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/SentinelMissile_Hero_Angle-0021.jpg.jpg\"\n\t },\n\t {\n\t \"@type\": \"BreadcrumbList\",\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/air\\\/2024\\\/07\\\/08\\\/pentagon-keeps-commitment-to-sentinel-nuclear-missile-as-costs-balloon\\\/#breadcrumb\",\n\t \"itemListElement\": [\n\t {\n\t \"@type\": \"ListItem\",\n\t \"position\": 1,\n\t \"name\": \"Home\",\n\t \"item\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/\",\n\t \"ad_zone\": \"home\"\n\t },\n\t {\n\t \"@type\": \"ListItem\",\n\t \"position\": 2,\n\t \"name\": \"Air Warfare\",\n\t \"item\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/air\\\/\",\n\t \"ad_zone\": \"air\"\n\t },\n\t {\n\t \"@type\": \"ListItem\",\n\t \"position\": 3,\n\t \"name\": \"Pentagon keeps commitment to Sentinel nuclear missile as costs balloon\"\n\t }\n\t ]\n\t },\n\t {\n\t \"@type\": \"WebSite\",\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/#website\",\n\t \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/\",\n\t \"name\": \"Defense News\",\n\t \"description\": \"Covering the politics, business and technology of defense | Defense News\",\n\t \"publisher\": {\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/#organization\"\n\t },\n\t \"potentialAction\": [\n\t {\n\t \"@type\": \"SearchAction\",\n\t \"target\": {\n\t \"@type\": \"EntryPoint\",\n\t \"urlTemplate\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"\n\t },\n\t \"query-input\": {\n\t \"@type\": \"PropertyValueSpecification\",\n\t \"valueRequired\": true,\n\t \"valueName\": \"search_term_string\"\n\t }\n\t }\n\t ],\n\t \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\"\n\t },\n\t {\n\t \"@type\": \"Organization\",\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/#organization\",\n\t \"name\": \"Defense News\",\n\t \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/\",\n\t \"logo\": {\n\t \"@type\": \"ImageObject\",\n\t \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\n\t \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/defensenews-logo-white.png\",\n\t \"contentUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/defensenews-logo-white.png\",\n\t \"caption\": \"Defense News\"\n\t },\n\t \"image\": {\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"\n\t }\n\t },\n\t {\n\t \"@type\": \"Person\",\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/cc76c831bb37a926738c8391fca7a3b1\",\n\t \"name\": \"migration\",\n\t \"image\": {\n\t \"@type\": \"ImageObject\",\n\t \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=gcf4cb6ee0ec29e49e7a963234e4340ec\",\n\t \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\n\t \"contentUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\n\t \"caption\": \"migration\"\n\t },\n\t \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/author\\\/migration\\\/\"\n\t }\n\t ]\n\t}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Pentagon keeps commitment to Sentinel nuclear missile as costs balloon - Defense News","description":"Even a modified version of the Sentinel ICBM will be 81% more expensive than the program's original costs.","robots":{"index":"noindex","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Pentagon keeps commitment to Sentinel nuclear missile as costs balloon","og_description":"Even a modified version of the Sentinel ICBM will be 81% more expensive than the program's original costs.","og_url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/air\/2024\/07\/08\/pentagon-keeps-commitment-to-sentinel-nuclear-missile-as-costs-balloon\/","og_site_name":"Defense News","article_published_time":"2024-07-08T20:41:00+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-08-08T01:10:03+00:00","author":"Stephen Losey","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Stephen Losey","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/air\/2024\/07\/08\/pentagon-keeps-commitment-to-sentinel-nuclear-missile-as-costs-balloon\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/air\/2024\/07\/08\/pentagon-keeps-commitment-to-sentinel-nuclear-missile-as-costs-balloon\/"},"author":{"name":"migration","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/#\/schema\/person\/cc76c831bb37a926738c8391fca7a3b1"},"headline":"Pentagon keeps commitment to Sentinel nuclear missile as costs balloon","datePublished":"2024-07-08T20:41:00+00:00","dateModified":"2026-08-08T01:10:03+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/air\/2024\/07\/08\/pentagon-keeps-commitment-to-sentinel-nuclear-missile-as-costs-balloon\/"},"wordCount":945,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/air\/2024\/07\/08\/pentagon-keeps-commitment-to-sentinel-nuclear-missile-as-costs-balloon\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/SentinelMissile_Hero_Angle-0021.jpg.jpg","articleSection":["Air Warfare","Daily News Roundup","Industry","Newsletters"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/air\/2024\/07\/08\/pentagon-keeps-commitment-to-sentinel-nuclear-missile-as-costs-balloon\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/air\/2024\/07\/08\/pentagon-keeps-commitment-to-sentinel-nuclear-missile-as-costs-balloon\/","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/air\/2024\/07\/08\/pentagon-keeps-commitment-to-sentinel-nuclear-missile-as-costs-balloon\/","name":"Pentagon keeps commitment to Sentinel nuclear missile as costs balloon - Defense News","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/air\/2024\/07\/08\/pentagon-keeps-commitment-to-sentinel-nuclear-missile-as-costs-balloon\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/air\/2024\/07\/08\/pentagon-keeps-commitment-to-sentinel-nuclear-missile-as-costs-balloon\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/SentinelMissile_Hero_Angle-0021.jpg.jpg","datePublished":"2024-07-08T20:41:00+00:00","dateModified":"2026-08-08T01:10:03+00:00","description":"Even a modified version of the Sentinel ICBM will be 81% more expensive than the program's original costs.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/air\/2024\/07\/08\/pentagon-keeps-commitment-to-sentinel-nuclear-missile-as-costs-balloon\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/air\/2024\/07\/08\/pentagon-keeps-commitment-to-sentinel-nuclear-missile-as-costs-balloon\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/air\/2024\/07\/08\/pentagon-keeps-commitment-to-sentinel-nuclear-missile-as-costs-balloon\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/SentinelMissile_Hero_Angle-0021.jpg.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/SentinelMissile_Hero_Angle-0021.jpg.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/air\/2024\/07\/08\/pentagon-keeps-commitment-to-sentinel-nuclear-missile-as-costs-balloon\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/","ad_zone":"home"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Air Warfare","item":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/air\/","ad_zone":"air"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Pentagon keeps commitment to Sentinel nuclear missile as costs balloon"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/#website","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/","name":"Defense News","description":"Covering the politics, business and technology of defense | Defense News","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/#organization","name":"Defense News","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/defensenews-logo-white.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/defensenews-logo-white.png","caption":"Defense News"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/#\/schema\/person\/cc76c831bb37a926738c8391fca7a3b1","name":"migration","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=gcf4cb6ee0ec29e49e7a963234e4340ec","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"migration"},"url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/author\/migration\/"}]}},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"Defense News","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews","push-errors":false,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/SentinelMissile_Hero_Angle-0021.jpg.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68281","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=68281"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68281\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":68296,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68281\/revisions\/68296"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=68281"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=68281"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=68281"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=68281"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}