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Standing Sentinel: StratCom's new nukes get a name

In a decade or so, a new harbinger of atomic doom and deterrence will squat in Minuteman III missile silos in Nebraska and four other upper Midwest states.

Now the next-generation ICBM has a name: Sentinel. Until last week, the Pentagon called the nuclear-tipped intercontinental ballistic missiles currently in development by the moniker “Ground-Based Strategic Deterrent,” or GBSD.

On Tuesday, Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall announced that they will be called by the slightly less awkward name LGM-35A Sentinel.

“The name Sentinel recognizes the mindset that thousands of Airmen, past and present, have brought to the deterrence mission,” Kendall said in a statement.

LGM stands for Launched (from a silo) Guided Missile, and 35A is the design and serial number.

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