Breaking Defense:

The Biden administration is pushing ahead with multiple missile defense initiatives in its first 100 days, a sign the Pentagon will make new investments in the capability to meet developing Chinese, North Korean and Russian capabilities.

The announcement that the Pentagon awarded contracts to teams led by Northrop Grumman and Lockheed Martin to develop a Next Generation Interceptor to replace the aging interceptors currently in silos in California and Alaska comes as good news to missile defense advocates who have long said the current technology is in dire need of an upgrade.

The Tuesday awards, worth about $1.6 billion, will fund technology development for the program, with a potential value of $3.6 billion once the program is fielded. Boeing was the third competitor for one of the developmental contracts, but was not selected.

The announcement comes as Pentagon leadership is weighing a new push to build an Aegis Ashore missile defense system on Guam, something the Indo-Pacom commander has lobbied for the past several years, calling it his No. 1 priority. The command has asked for $350 million to start to work, and sources indicate that it might make its way into the 2022 budget expected to be released in May…

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