Drew FitzGerald of The Wall Street Journal tells his readers how a U.S. missile supplier’s effort to make a key chemical has struggled to meet demanding Pentagon requirements as global conflicts rise. He writes:
The Pentagon long relied on one U.S. company to make the main ingredient that fuels its most powerful missiles. Northrop Grumman’s effort to build a second source has been slow to take off.
Years after building a factory to make more of the key chemical, Northrop’s output is still missing from the fuel powering many U.S. weapon systems—when global conflicts have spurred demand for a range of tactical missiles. A new $95 billion spending package to support Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan will further bolster weapons demand abroad and pay to replenish U.S. arsenals.
Northrop’s self-made fuel isn’t yet fully approved for use in big weapons programs such as the Navy’s ballistic missiles, a Defense Department official said. […]
Over the coming years, the biggest source of projected U.S. ammonium perchlorate demand will be another Northrop project: a next-generation nuclear missile upgrade known as Sentinel. Cost overruns bedevil the multibillion-dollar program, making expense management a priority for the company.
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