NGI decision delayed until March

A source selection decision on the Next Generation Interceptor -- expected as soon as this week -- is now being pushed into March at the earliest, according to DOD.

Jessica Maxwell, a Pentagon spokeswoman, said the Missile Defense Agency and the Office of the Secretary of Defense are continuing work to finalize a winner in the three-way contest to build a new ballistic missile interceptor for the Ground-based Midcourse Defense system.

"The final review and approval process is expected to be complete in the coming weeks," Maxwell told Inside Defense in a Feb. 24 statement.

The office of cost assessment and program evaluation has completed an independent cost estimate for the NGI program as part of a final DOD review of MDA's source selection that is expected to result in the award of two contracts to a field of three bidders: Lockheed Martin, Boeing, and a Northrop Grumman-Raytheon team.