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.
The Future Long-Range Assault Aircraft is part of the Army’s modernization plan under its Future Vertical Lift program, a research and development initiative focused on designing, investigating and refining technologies to vertically move and transport materials, according to a 2019 Congressional Research Service report.
Bell Textron’s project could include up to $632 million of investment, according to Fort Worth City Council documents. The facility could create up to 520 jobs by the end of 2039, including 330 jobs by the end of 2033.
The project is the first to qualify under the new Texas Jobs, Energy, Technology, and Innovation Act, a tax initiative that aims to draw in major investments and create new jobs, Abbott stated in his press release.
The Texas legislation also brings incentives to the Northwest Independent School District, according to a Dec. 17 press release. Bell Textron plans to offer internship and career training opportunities for school district students, as well career and technical education courses, including in the district’s advanced manufacturing program.
“Bell will be building and supporting the U.S. Army’s Future Long Range Assault Aircraft over the next several decades,” Atherton said in the school district’s press release. “It’s important that we invest in and grow our local talent.”
Bell Textron has also made other plans to upgrade and expand its other facilities to support the Army’s Future Long-Range Assault Aircraft system. The defense contractor announced in November plans to establish a fuselage assembly plant in Wichita, Kansas. Operations are expected to begin later this year.
