PROCUREMENT: Northrop, Boeing Win Initial Deal to Replace Land-Based Nuclear ICBMs.

After the 36-month risk reduction phase, a single company will be chosen for the engineering and manufacturing development in 2020.

“We are moving forward with modernization of the ground-based leg of the nuclear triad,” said Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson said. “Our missiles were built in the 1970s. Things just wear out, and it becomes more expensive to maintain them than to replace them. We need to cost-effectively modernize,” she said in the release.

“As others have stated, the only thing more expensive than deterrence is fighting a war. The Minuteman III is 45 years old. It is time to upgrade,” added Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Goldfein.

The Air Force is responsible for two out of the three legs of the nuclear triad. It expects to deploy GBSD in the late 2020s.

There’s some debate on whether we still need a land-based ICBM force when our submarine-based SLBM nukes are nearly as accurate, but advances in computing technology could rob our “boomer” fleet of its invisibility.