Northrop Grumman was awarded a $13.3 billion contract by the U.S. Air Force to replace America’s aging stock of intercontinental ballistic missiles. The defense manufacturer takes a step forward in modernizing the nuclear enterprise as threats from countries such as Russia and China continue. The contract announced that Northrop will manufacture missiles that can be operational by 2029. In 2019, the CBO estimated that the Pentagon would spend $61 billion over the subsequent 10 years on the modernization of the ICBM fleet alone.

Photo by Senior Airman Ian Dudley