Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment William LaPlante "directed the Air Force to restructure the Sentinel program to address the root causes of the breach and ensure an appropriate management structure is in place to control costs in the future," the report said.
The modified Sentinel program to replace aging Minuteman III ICBMs is on track to cost $140.9 billion, an increase of 81% compared to a 2020 estimate, according to the report.
US defense and military officials told reporters in a conference call that the restructuring phase would take about 18 to 24 months to complete, and there is no guarantee that costs will be reduced once it's complete. Moreover, the officials noted that decisions will be made further "down the road" about what defense programs will have their funding cut in order to make room for the costly Sentinel program.