President Trump announced that the Department of War would be building a super range to test advanced weapons in Montana.
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The federal government and the military have not commented, but some civilians say that if it happens, it could be east of Billings in the Powder River area.
MTN contacted the Pentagon, the U.S. Air Force, Malmstrom Air Force Base, and Montana's congressional delegation, but learned little more about where the range could go or what it would take to build it.
“Hypersonic weapons are very discreet,” said Eric Hart, vice president for operations in the Americas for Sicuro Group. “They can be used against point targets. And they have the ability to penetrate far beyond where conventional weapons are able to get in.”
Hart has more than 25 years of intelligence experience and says a range capable of testing these weapons would require two big things: land and money.
He says hypersonic weapons are normally tested over the Pacific Ocean.
“These are the types of things that these weapons employing both the speed and their lack of ability to be intercepted can deeply penetrate through bedrock, mountainside, concrete,” Hart said.
Trump's announcement came at the Republican rally in Kalispell on Wednesday.
“I'm pleased to inform you and announce that right here in Montana, the Department of War is going to establish a new super range for testing advanced weapons and technologies, including potential autonomous weapons, space and electronic warfare technology, supersonics and hypersonics,” the president said.
Beyond that announcement, details are scarce, leaving speculation for the site of the facility.
The Powder River training complex east of Billings spans about 35,000 square miles across parts of Montana, Wyoming, and the Dakotas.
“(Military Operations Areas) typically take up a lot of space because they are primarily designed for high-speed aircraft,” said Jeff Roach, City of Billings director of aviation and transit.
Roach says Montana also has a military operating area (MOA) east of Great Falls.
“They want to separate the civilian aircraft from those military aircraft that are training for safety purposes,” Roach said.
And with hypersonic technology, distance matters.
"If what my understanding is that they're looking at hypersonics, they would need large areas to go from point A to point B,” said Edgar Johansson, president of the Montana Spaceport and Testing Range. “And understand the physics of those motions through that space.”
Johansson says simply pursuing this kind of technology could have implications far beyond Montana.
“I think it's a big deal for our nation as a whole because it really is showing the support and the activity around making sure that we're on the cutting edge of technology,” Johansson said.
