by Sloan T. Wilson, The Chicago Times
September 20, 2021
CHICAGO — Under a recently awarded 18-year, $1.6 billion sole-source contract, Boeing will continue to maintain the guidance system for the Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) for the United States Air Force.
Boeing, which has held the contract exclusively since 1996, will primarily perform the work at the Boeing Guidance Repair Center in Heath, Ohio – the company’s center of excellence for navigation and guidance system maintenance, repair, and overhaul. Because of the site’s unique stability and inertial calibration capabilities, Boeing is able to maintain the readiness and accuracy of guidance and navigation systems for nuclear-capable platforms in the United States with unparalleled quality and precision.
“As the ICBM guidance system’s original equipment manufacturer, this contract ensures the continued reliability, safety, and accuracy of our nation’s land-based strategic deterrent,” said Mike Murasky, site leader for the Boeing Guidance Repair Center.
Since the inception of strategic deterrence, the Boeing-built ICBM weapon system has served as the reliable and enduring ground-based leg of the US nuclear triad. Boeing is also the prime contractor for Minuteman guidance subsystem maintenance, and it is the only company that has continuously supported every ICBM subsystem – ground, guidance, propulsion, and re-entry – over the weapon system’s lifetime.
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