BAE Systems wins $12 billion US contract related to ICBMs
28 Jun 2022
The US Department of Defence on Friday awarded BAE Systems (BAES), a British multinational arms, security, and aerospace company, a potential $12 billion contract to support intercontinental ballistic missile systems.
A BAE Systems division won a potential $12 billion contract to integrate and engineer intercontinental ballistic missiles for the US Air Force. The company’s technology solutions and services unit will continue to serve as the lead systems integrator and provide professional services for the ICBM programme at Hill Air Force Base in Utah, the Defence Department said on Friday.
BAE is currently helping the military branch sustain the weapon as part of an eight-year, $534 million contract awarded in July 2013.
According to solicitation documents, the Integration Support Contract 2.0 covers support for Minuteman III and the next-generation ground-based strategic deterrent missile or any future ICBM weapon system developed throughout the duration of the contract.
The Air Force Nuclear Weapon Center received five proposals for the cost-plus-award-fee contract through a competitive acquisition process.
Work related to the contract is expected to be completed by the end of 2040, the defence department said, and will mostly take place at Hill Air Force Base in Utah.
BAE was one of five firms competing for the contract.
The US Defence Department had earlier awarded BAE Systems a contract for advanced radiofrequency (RF) sensors or guidance systems that will allow LRASM to strike high-value, specific maritime threats.
The RF sensors are capable of penetrating enemy air defences from a long range in electromagnetic warfare environments.
The anti-ship missile provides a capable precision strike weapon to the warfighters. The air-launched LRASM is intended for surface vessels, using Mark 41 Vertical Launching System and for various aircraft.
It includes F/A-18E/F Super Hornet fighters, B-1B Lancer bombers, F-35 Lightning II aircraft and P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft.
The missiles are already in use with the US Navy’s F/A-18E/F Super Hornet and USAF’s B-1B aircraft.
London-based BAE Systems plc is the largest defence contractor in Europe, and ranked the seventh-largest in the world based on applicable 2021 revenues.