"The Department will announce its decision about the future of the Sentinel program once the process is complete and we have fulfilled our obligation to Congress. We expect the decision to be made on or about July 9, 2024," the spokesperson said.
The Office of the Secretary of Defense launched a review to determine whether to certify the continuation of the Sentinel program after the Air Force notified Congress in January that the program had exceeded its baseline cost projections, resulting in a "critical breach" under the Nunn-McCurdy statute, a law designed to prevent major cost overruns for weapons systems.
The price tag for Air Force's Sentinel program to replace aging Minuteman III nuclear missiles has grown to $160 billion from $95.8 billion, according to media reports.