The U.S. Air Force has opened bids for replacing the LGM-30 Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile -- the backbone of its nuclear deterrent force -- and producing a new long range cruise missile with a nuclear warhead.

The Air Force will award up to two contracts for the new ICBM in late 2017 and might also award two contracts in the same time frame for the Long-Range Standoff Weapon (LRSO), a nuclear cruise missile that will replace the aging AGM-86 air-launched cruise missile (ALCM) first deployed in 1982.

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Modernizing the U.S. nuclear deterrent force will carry a $350 billion price tag over the next decade and might cost over $1 trillion in the next 30 years. The modernization program will also include the acquisition of new nuclear bombers, missiles, bombs and ballistic nuclear missile submarines.

A replacement for the Minuteman, which entered service in 1962, is long overdue. Successive upgrades have improved the range, accuracy and warhead of the missile to the point where the current LGM-30G Minuteman III has a range in excess of 13,000 kilometers and a circular error probability of just 120 meters.

The Minuteman III, which entered service in 1970, carries a single warhead, either the W78 with a yield of 300 kilotons or the W87 with a yield of 475 kT. The U.S. has a stockpile of some 450 Minuteman IIIs.

"This request for proposals is the next step to ensuring the nation's ICBM leg of the nuclear triad remains safe, secure and effective," said Major General Scott Jansson, Commander, Air Force Nuclear Weapons Center, and Air Force Program Executive Officer for Strategic Systems, Kirtland Air Force Base, New Mexico.

The center he commands is responsible for the life cycle management of nuclear weapons systems supporting two legs of America's nuclear triad, including ICBMs and air launched cruise missiles.

The LRSO will replace the AGM-86. The Air Force's budget request for fiscal year 2016 calls for $1.8 billion in spending for the LRSO over the next five years. There will be two LRSO versions. One will mount an updated W80 thermonuclear warhead with a yield of 150 kT while the other will have a conventional high-explosive warhead.

LRSO will have a range in excess of 3,000 km compared to the 2,400 km range for the AGM-86, which can only carry a conventional or non-nuclear warhead.

The LRSO will be carried on a variety of aircraft, including the B-52, the B-2 Spirit and the Northrop Grumman B-21 long-range strategic bomber currently under development.

The LRSO program aims to develop a weapon that can penetrate and survive integrated air defense systems and strike strategic targets. Both conventional and nuclear versions of the weapon are required to reach initial operational capability by 2030 or before the retirement of their ALCM versions.

TagsU.S. Air Force, LGM-30 Minuteman III, Long-Range Standoff Weapon, LRSO, AGM-86 air-launched cruise missile, Major General Scott Jansson