
Questionable “competence” within Air Force procurement ranks helped turn a competition to build a fleet of next-generation nuclear missiles into a one-horse race, the chair of the House Armed Services Committee said Wednesday. Bids to build and deploy the Ground Based Strategic Deterrent (GBSD), silo-based missiles designed to replace the nuclear-tipped Minuteman III fleet starting in 2030, are due in a matter of weeks, and Northrop Grumman [NOC] will be the only bidder. Boeing [BA], which built every Minuteman missile…