The Governor of Montana doesn’t think it likely that the Air Force will reopen the runway at Malmstrom AFB, Mont., one of the options floated recently by the state’s Congressional delegation. Instead, Gov. Brian Schweitzer met this week with the Air Force’s top loggie, William Anderson, to discuss the potential for installing a coal-to-liquids plant at Malmstrom as part of USAF’s switch to synthetic fuel. Actually, the idea started with Anderson, who contacted Schweitzer after hearing him talk at a coal-to-liquids conference. The Great Falls Tribune reports that Schweitzer believes such an effort would produce a thousand jobs at Malmstrom.
The rate of building B-21 bombers would speed up if the fiscal 2026 defense budget passes. But it remains unclear how much capacity would be added, and whether the Air Force would simply build the bombers faster, or buy more.
