The Air Force's fiscal year 2024 budget advances the first part of a planned $1 billion down payment needed to launch production in FY-26 of the U.S. military's next-generation intercontinental ballistic missile, seeking $539 million in advanced procurement for the LGM-35A Sentinel. Previously called the Ground Based Strategic Deterrent, the LGM-35A Sentinel is the follow-on to the Minuteman III ICBM, the ground leg of the U.S. nuclear triad since the 1970s. The Air Force estimates the Sentinel program will cost...