Breaking Defense:

The Pentagon has a fresh estimate for how much its new ballistic missile defense program will cost over the next decade-plus, now that the department’s Cost Assessment and Program Evaluation office has wrapped up its review of the effort.

The Next Generation Interceptor, designed to shoot down missiles launched at the United States from North Korea and Iran, should run about $17.7 billion to develop, field, and maintain 21 interceptors in the coming years, CAPE said today. The program was approved by the DoD in March when it awarded developmental contracts to Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman.

The $17.7 billion price tag includes $13.1 billion to develop 10 warheads for testing, with 21 more to be fielded in silos in California and Alaska by the end of the decade. That fielding will cost another $2.3 billion, with $2.2 billion more to operate and sustain the missiles once deployed, according to details provided by the Pentagon…



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