Honeywell contributes to the U.S. ICBM programme and is also involved in management and operations of several U.S. nuclear weapon production facilities.
Nuclear weapons
Under the Northrop Grumman-led team, Honeywell works on guidance and control instruments and booster control for the LGM-35A Sentinel, the new U.S. intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM).[i]
Honeywell is the original equipment manufacturer of the Pendulous Integrating Gyroscopic Accelerometer guidance instrument for the Minuteman III.[ii] In 2022, Honeywell was awarded a six-year $76.2 million contract for its repair.[iii]
Honeywell states it has been supporting U.S. national security goals “since the dawn of the nuclear age”.[iv] Today, Honeywell operates three sites for the U.S. Department of Energy and the National Nuclear Security Administration through joint-venture partnerships: Kansas City National Security Campus, Nevada National Security Site, and Sandia National Laboratory.[v] Honeywell also has a contract for cleanup of previous nuclear weapons activities at the Oak Ridge and Y-12 facilities.[vi]
Since 2015, Honeywell Federal Manufacturing & Technologies has been managing and operating the National Security Campus (NSC) (formerly Kansas City Plant), the facility responsible for producing an estimated 80% of the non-nuclear components for U.S. nuclear weapons, including electronic, chemical and engineered material components.[vii] This has included production of the gas transfer system and the arming, fuzing, and firing subsystem of the W88 Alt 370 warhead for the Trident II submarine-launched ballistic missiles[viii], and firing, safing and use components of the W80-4 warhead for the Long Range Standoff (LRSO) missiles[ix] and the B61-12 nuclear gravity bomb[x]. The contract has a potential total value of $21.5 billion and is set to expire in 2030.[xi]
Sandia National Laboratory has been directly involved in the nuclear weapon modernisation programmes of the W88 Alt 37 warhead[xii] and the new W39/Mk7 program[xiii] (both used for arming the submarine-launched Trident II missiles), the W87-1 warhead for the new U.S. intercontinental ballistic missile, the Sentinel,[xiv] the W80-4 warheads for the Long Range Standoff missiles,[xv] and the B61-12 gravity bomb[xvi].[xvii] Sandia National Laboratory was also one of the design agencies for the refurbishment of the W76-1 warhead for the Trident II submarine-launched ballistic missiles.[xviii] National Technology and Engineering Solutions of Sandia (NTESS), a ”wholly-owned subsidiary” of Honeywell, has the management and operations contract. The contract, with a potential total value of $54.3 billion, runs until April 2027.[xix] Peraton, Universities Research Association[xx], Longenecker & Associates and Sandia Technical Partners support NTESS in the performance of this contract.[xxi]
Together with Amentum and Huntington Ingalls Industries subsidiary HII Nuclear Inc., Honeywell is also part of the Mission Support and Test Service (MSTS) consortium that manages and operates the U.S. Nevada National Security Site.[xxii] The site is used for tests that “provide data relevant to improving our predictive capability, assessing the current stockpile and certifying the future stockpile”[xxiii] MSTS is also contracted for producing nuclear weapon “components (particularly pit production)” as well as “strategic materials capabilities”.[xxiv] The consortium was awarded a 10-year contract in 2017, potentially valued at $11.3 billion.[xxv]
[i] About Sentinel (no date) | Northrop Grumman. Available at: About Sentinel | Northrop Grumman (Accessed: 30 September 2025); Mehta, Aaron,‘Northrop teams with Lockheed on ICBM replacement. Here’s who else is involved’, Defense News, 16 September 2019. Available at: https://www.defensenews.com/digital-show-dailies/afa-air-space/2019/09/16/northrop-teams-with-lockheed-on-icbm-replacement-heres-who-else-is-involved/;
[ii] Solicitation # FA8214-17-R-PIGA- GovTribe (2016) GovTribe. Available at: PIGA Float FA8214-17-R-PIGA (govtribe.com) (Accessed: 30 September 2025).
[iii] CONTRACT to HONEYWELL INTERNATIONAL INC. | USAspending’, 21 March 2022. Available at: https://www.usaspending.gov/award/CONT_AWD_FA821422C0002_9700_-NONE-_-NONE- (Accessed: 7 April 2026); Contracts for March 21, 2022 (2022) U.S. Department of Defense. Available at: > U.S. Department of Defense > Contract (Accessed: 30 September 2025).
[iv] FEDERAL SOLUTIONS - PERFORMANCE YOU CAN TRUST (no date) | Honeywell Aerospace. Available at: Honeywell Federal Solutions (Accessed: 30 September 2025).
[v] Ibid.
[vi] Y-12 National Security Cleanup (no date) | UCOR. Available at: https://ucor.com/y-12-national-security-complex/ (Accessed: 7 April 2026); CONTRACT to UNITED CLEANUP OAK RIDGE LLC | USAspending, 2 April 2025. Available at: https://usaspending.gov/award/CONT_AWD_89303523FEM400032_8900_89303322DEM000067_8900 (Accessed: 7 April 2026).
[vii] Nuclear Weapons Program (no date) | Kansas City National Security Campus. Available at: Nuclear Weapons Program (Accessed: 30 September 2025).; Kansas City National Security Campus contract (2017) Energy.gov. Available at: https://www.energy.gov/nnsa/kansas-city-national-security-campus-contract (Accessed: 30 September 2025).
[viii] ‘W88 Alteration 370 Program’ (2023). National Nuclear Security Administration. Available at: https://www.energy.gov/sites/default/files/2023-11/W88-ALT370_1123.pdf.
[ix] ‘W80-4 Life Extension Program’ (2023). National Nuclear Security Administration. Available at: W80-4_1123.pdf.
[x] ‘B61-12 Life Extension Program’ (2023). National Nuclear Security Administration. Available at: https://www.energy.gov/sites/default/files/2023-04/B61-12%20042023.pdf.
[xi] CONTRACT to HONEYWELL INTERNATIONAL INC. | USAspending. 9 July 2015. Available at: CONTRACT to HONEYWELL INTERNATIONAL INC. | USAspending (Accessed: 7 April 2026).
[xii] ‘W88 Alteration 370 Program’ (2023). National Nuclear Security Administration. Available at: https://www.energy.gov/sites/default/files/2023-11/W88-ALT370_1123.pdf.
[xiii] ‘W39/Mk7 Acquisition Program’ (2023). National Nuclear Security Administration. Available at: W93_1123.pdf.
[xiv] ‘W87-1 Modification Program’ (2023). National Nuclear Security Administration. Available at: W87-1_1123.pdf.
[xv] ‘W80-4 Life Extension Program’(2023). National Nuclear Security Administration. Available at: W80-4_1123.pdf (energy.gov).
[xvi] ‘B61-12 Life Extension Program’ (2023). National Nuclear Security Administration. Available at: https://www.energy.gov/sites/default/files/2023-04/B61-12%20042023.pdf.
[xvii] ‘Fiscal Year 2024 Stockpile Stewardship and Management Plan’, National Nuclear Security Administration (2023), pp. F-26 – F-27. Available at: FY24SSMP_FINAL_NOVEMBER_2023_0.pdf (energy.gov).
[xviii] ‘W76-1 Life Extension Program’ (2022). National Nuclear Security Administration. Available at: W76-1-012422_0.pdf.
[xix] CONTRACT to NATIONAL TECHNOLOGY & ENGINEERING SOLUTIONS OF SANDIA, LLC | USAspending, 18 January 2017. Available at: CONTRACT to | USAspending (Accessed: 7 April 2026);
About Sandia (no date) | Sandia National Laboratories. Available at: About Sandia – Sandia National Laboratories (Accessed: 30 September 2025).
[xx] Universities Research Association, Inc., (URA), is a consortium of over 90 leading research-oriented universities, primarily in the United States, and in Canada, Italy, Japan, and the United Kingdom. See Sandia National Lab (no date) | URA. Available at: https://ura-hq.org/programs/sandia-national-lab/ (Accessed: 30 September 2025).
[xxi] Sandia National Laboratories contract (2017) Energy.gov, Modification 0200, Section J, Appendix E, page 6 of 20. Available at: Sandia National Laboratories Contract | Department of Energy (Accessed: 30 September 2025).
[xxii] NNSA announces exercise of terms for Nevada National Security Site management and operating contract. NNSA, 17 August 2022. Available at: https://www.energy.gov/nnsa/articles/nnsa-announces-exercise-terms-nevada-national-security-site-management-and-operating; About us (no date) | Mission Support and Test Services on LinkedIn. Available at: Mission Support and Test Services, LLC | LinkedIn (Accessed: 1 October 2025).
[xxiii] ‘FY 2023 - DOE/NNSA Strategic Performance Evaluation and Measurement Plan (PEMP)’, Energy.gov (2022), p. 6. Available at: https://www.energy.gov/nnsa/articles/fy2023-strategic-performance-evaluation-and-measurement-plan-mission-support-test.
[xxiv] Ibid.
[xxv] CONTRACT to MISSION SUPPORT AND TEST SERVICES LLC | USAspending, 1 August 2017. Available at: CONTRACT to MISSION SUPPORT AND TEST SERVICES LLC | USAspending (Accessed: 7 April 2026).
Last updated: 2026-06-08 14:19:29
Notes