Chief Executive Officer Kathy Warden detailed the program’s progress during Northrop Grumman’s second-quarter 2026 earnings call on July 21. She said the latest Air Force actions authorized the company to execute additional elements of the Sentinel program plan.
“We continue to make progress on the Sentinel program in partnership with the Air Force,” Warden said. Northrop Grumman also achieved contract incentives during the quarter that improved overall program profitability and delivered scheduled milestones, she added.
The company completed an acoustic test of the Sentinel missile during the quarter. Warden said the test validated that the system can withstand the intense conditions associated with a silo launch.
She described the test as another step toward the first flight of the integrated missile, which is expected in 2027. Solid rocket motors for the first five flight tests are already in production, according to Warden.
Northrop Grumman is expanding its industrial base for the program alongside the flight-test effort. Warden said the company had broken ground on another advanced facility at its Utah campus.
The campus already includes 1.1 million square feet of space purpose-built for Sentinel. The new facility will support the program’s production phase, which is scheduled to begin later this decade.
Sentinel was one of the developments Warden cited in outlining Northrop Grumman’s U.S. growth outlook. The $7.6 billion increase contributed to a broader expansion in company backlog during the quarter.
The program is also part of Northrop Grumman’s broader shift toward higher production activity. Warden said the company has invested in both new capabilities and manufacturing capacity to support growth and respond more quickly to customer demand.
For Sentinel, the next major technical milestone is the planned 2027 integrated missile flight. At the same time, Northrop Grumman is building the facilities and producing the rocket motors needed to move the program from its current phase toward production later in the decade.
