Aging US ICBM Could Be Extended Until 2050, Air Force Tells GAO

Air Force officials have told congressional auditors it’s feasible to extend, until 2050, Boeing Co.’s aging Minuteman III nuclear missiles that have been the ground-based leg of the US-nuclear triad arsenal for more than half a century.

The extension would add 11 years to the planned lifetime of the missiles, which have been on alert since the 1970s.

If delays lengthen and costs increase on the new Northrop Grumman Corp. Sentinel ICBM, Air Force officials said, then a fallback plan to extend the Boeing missiles could be executed — but with increasing parts, supply chain and personnel challenges, according ...