Warden said Northrop completed the first full vertical assembly of an inert missile at Vandenberg Space Force Base during the third quarter. Speaking to analysts on October 20, she said the program was progressing as planned through testing and development milestones.
The missile will undergo further integration and a rigorous test campaign, while design work continues on launch facilities, including silos and command centers. Northrop is also developing the command-and-control systems needed to integrate the equipment and enable the government to operate it.
Warden said all three development efforts would continue over the next several years, leading into an integrated test campaign. Toward the end of the decade, the company expects to look at increasing production across both the missile and infrastructure portions of the program.
“Toward the end of the decade, we will begin looking at ramping production on all aspects of the program,” Warden said. She stressed that the company’s immediate task remained completing development.
“And yet our focus in these next several years will be on completing the development program,” she said. Warden expects Sentinel to contribute to Northrop’s growth through the 2030s as work shifts from development into production.
Chief Financial Officer John Greene said Northrop recorded an additional $2 billion in Sentinel awards during the quarter. Increased activity on the program, together with higher tactical solid rocket motor volumes, helped drive a 12% increase in Defense Systems sales to $2.3 billion.
Asked how Sentinel would contribute before production expands, Warden said the program had been growing modestly faster than Northrop overall. She expects its growth to remain around the company’s rate or slightly above it over the coming years.
