Why is the U.S. spending $100 billion to send nukes to Montana? Wikimedia Commons license (courtesy of the Daily Montanan) The locations of the 10th Missile Squadron, headquartered at Malmstrom Air Force Base in Great Falls, Montana By: Darrell Ehrlick/ Daily Montanan Posted at 8:13 PM, Feb 09, 2021 and last updated 2021-02-09 22:13:30-05 Montana is known to residents as either the âTreasure Stateâ or âThe Big Sky State,â but to defense experts, itâs just a ânuclear sponge.â Thatâs a technical term that reveals, among other things in a new report published Monday by the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists, that while Montana is in line to get part of a new $100 billion land-based missile defense system to replace its Minutemen III weapons, the reasons behind the new system are mired in politics, lobbying and have little do with making America safer, reports The Daily Montanan.