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Air Force leaders marked a key step for the LGM-35A Sentinel intercontinental ballistic missile program on June 24, 2026, breaking ground in western Nebraska on the first in-field construction tied to the weapon system. The event launched work on utility corridors that will carry fiber optic cable networks connecting Sentinel’s infrastructure.
“This is the first groundbreaking event for what’s considered the nontraditional side of the Sentinel program,” said Peter Sturdivant, Air Force Nuclear Weapons Center Director of Intercontinental Ballistic Missile Infrastructure. “This summer we’re going to prototype and do proof of concept for more than 20 miles of utility corridor installation. The intent here is to mitigate impacts to neighboring landowners, proving we can be good partners with them.”
The pilot effort will test three installation methods—directional boring, vibratory plowing, and open trench—to gather data and determine the most effective approach for laying communications lines while minimizing disruption to surrounding farmland.
Attendees included Col. Richard Morrison, AFGSC’s A10 deputy director; Col. Christopher Lacoutre, 20th Air Force commander individual mobilization assistant; Col. Kevin Brown, 90th Mission Support Group commander; and Steve Kravitsky, Sentinel Task Force 10 director, alongside other program representatives.
“Today marks the beginning of a long journey out in the missile field,” said Kravitsky, former commander of the 90th Missile Wing at F.E. Warren AFB from 2015 to 2017. “It took a team of engineers and government folks to put pencil to paper, design it and work it through … it’s been a long time coming.”
The start of utility corridor construction represents a pivotal phase in modernizing the land-based leg of the nation’s nuclear triad.
