The Air Force gave Northrop Grumman Corp. [NOC] a $98.7 million contract to complete the full-rate production phase of the ICBM guidance replacement program (GRP).

This award capped a year of major achievements by the Northrop ICBM prime integration contract team to modernize and keep viable the nation’s land-based strategic deterrent.

The GRP program is a modernization effort aimed at upgrading the guidance system electronics in the Minuteman III ICBM to extend its service life through 2020. The final production option was exercised by the Air Force 526th ICBM Systems Wing at Hill Air Force Base, Utah. The total nine-year GRP effort is valued at $1.5 billion for Northrop Grumman and will be complete in February 2009.

In addition to GRP, Northrop Grumman has successfully completed several major ICBM milestones this year, ranging from testing advanced propulsion systems to replacing reentry vehicles to deploying new environmental control systems for the missile. In addition, the company has booked more than $819 million in total contract awards on the ICBM prime integration program for 2006.