Dive Brief:
- Aviation component maker Bell Textron announced plans last month to build a $429 million aircraft factory in Forth Worth, Texas.
- The Textron subsidiary’s factory will support production of the U.S. Army’s Future Long-Range Assault Aircraft system, according to the release. The Army awarded the company an estimated $1.4 billion contract to develop the fighter aircraft in 2022.
- The facility spans 447,000 square feet and will create more than 400 jobs, according to Texas Gov. Greg Abbot’s release. The company began plant construction in July 2024 and is expected to begin limited production by 2028, per Bell Textron’s release.
Dive Insight:
Bell Textron’s development contract requires the aircraft maker to deliver prototypes, design and build aircraft, as well as provide logistic support, according to an Army 2022 press release.
The assault aircraft is expected to fly twice as far and fast as the current fleet, Bell Textron said in its release, by combining a helicopter’s vertical lift with the speed and range of a fixed-wing aircraft. It also leverages an integrated business and technical strategy that aims to cost-effectively sustain the aircraft system’s lifecycle.
“Bell is committed to establishing future manufacturing locations to deliver the first fielded aircraft by the early 2030s and do our part to revolutionize U.S. Army aviation,” President and CEO Lisa Atherton said in a statement…