The Air Force has chosen a Montana-based business to build 243 modified Ford F-130 trucks that are prototypes for use as flight-line tractors. The vehicles will move aircraft around on tarmacs, using a telescoping, rotating center hitch that the company—International Truck Body—is pursuing a patent for, reports the Great Falls (Mont.) Tribune. If the first year of the contract goes well for the planned five-year, $29 million deal, the company could sell 1,200 of the tractors to the Air Force.
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.