The Air Force has determined that this is the right time to do a weapon system replacement. You can continue to repair or at some point, but continuing to repair just isn't cost-effective. We're going through a modernization period. At some point, our infrastructure needs an upgrade, and that's exactly what we're doing with the Minuteman IIIs. Kelly: Then an awful lot of what's happening is just a modernization of electronics, communications, and security in support of these new missiles.Ĭol Stoppel: I think that's a very eloquent way to say it. Within our plans, we will essentially restore those lands to their original condition. There will be the construction of utility corridors to be able to put down additional cabling to improve the overall communication architecture within the missile-link complex. It'll be very similar in terms of the footprint. I think from the casual observer when the final construction is completed. So essentially, there'll be no “holes in the ground” for these launch facilities. Kelly: Of the 80+ Minuteman silos already in place in the Nebraska panhandle, what changes will be made within those individual sites to prepare for the Sentinel weapons and modernize those facilities.Ĭol Stoppel: We're really trying to use the exact same footprint that we started back in in the 60s. It’ll go on for approximately the next five years across the missile complex. We expect it to be able to start probably in the 2024-25 timeframe. That's where particularly Wyoming, Nebraska, and Colorado will, we'll see a lot of this effort.

The predominance of a lot of the construction activities, however, it will be in the missile complex. We would expect to start construction probably next year at F.E.

Then there's an actual design and being able to translate that into a physical design that a contractor could later construct. There's a planning piece, being able to understand what is the true requirement and nature and capability that you need to have. Chris Stoppel: We feel at the Air Force, this is the right time to be able to do a weapon system replacement of the legacy of Minuteman III. Describe what phase of the project is underway right now when it comes to Wyoming, Colorado, and Nebraska.Ĭol. He says from the point of view of most Panhandle residents, the missile silos themselves won’t look much different.īill Kelly, Nebraska Public Media: We've known for some time the Minuteman missiles were due for replacement. He calls it “a once-in-every-other-generation opportunity” for a civil engineer. Recently the Air Force contractor Northrop Grumman completed testing of motors powering new Sentinel missiles in Utah.īill Kelly with Nebraska Public Media News spoke with the project coordinator, Colonel Chris Stoppel, with the Air Force Civil Engineer Center. Environmental assessments will review the impact of construction and new facilities on the local environment. In addition to upgrading the massive underground concrete silos, the Air Force will purchase additional land to locate new telecommunications towers. The multi-billion-dollar project is the first structural overhaul of land-based nuclear launch facilities since the 1960s.

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