Illinois and Missouri took new legal moves last Thursday to stop the BRAC actions that would divest each state of its Air National Guard fighter aircraft. Missouri filed a preliminary injunction to protect the 131st Fighter Wing’s F-15s at Lambert Field in St. Louis. Illinois officials requested a restraining order to prohibit the BRAC commission from delivering its final recommendations to President Bush. (They are due Sept. 8.) The commission voted to remove the 183rd Fighter Wing’s F-16s, stationed in Springfield, Ill. A hearing in the Missouri case was slated for Tuesday.
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.
