Bell Textron Inc., a Textron Inc. (NYSE:TXT) company, announced today the site selection for the Future Long Range Assault Aircraft (FLRAA) fuselage assembly in Wichita, Kansas at an existing facility located at Beech Field on Textron Aviation’s East Campus near the site of Textron Aviation Defence. Bell plans to begin operations at the facility in the next several months.
“As Bell prepares for the next stage of FLRAA’s Engineering and Manufacturing Development phase, we are committed to investing in advanced manufacturing to ensure we deliver exceptional performance at an affordable cost to our customer, said Lisa Atherton, President and CEO, Bell. “Textron has a rich history with the state of Kansas as well as the city of Wichita, and we are proud to deepen that relationship as we establish this new facility.”
In addition to manufacturing the FLRAA fuselage at the newly established Bell Wichita facility, supporting work will take place at several of Bell’s advanced manufacturing facilities in Texas, including Bell’s Advanced Composite Center in Fort Worth, and final assembly of the aircraft will occur in Amarillo.
U.S. Senator Jerry Moran (Kan.):
“Bell Textron’s decision to continue production of the Army’s Future Long-Range Assault Aircraft in Kansas marks an historic day for the Air Capital of the World. This announcement is a testament to the Kansas workforce and the unique combination of academia and industry that Wichita has to offer. I look forward to our state supporting this generational aircraft that will impact our national security and workforce for years to come.”
“The announcement of Bell Textron building the FLRAA fuselage in Wichita is great news for the Air Capital of the World and highlights Textron’s commitment to our region,” said Rep. Ron Estes. “This program is critical for the Army’s aviation modernization, and I look forward to expanding Bell’s presence in south central Kansas. We know that our skilled workforce is the best in the world, and this announcement is a testament to the quality of our aviation manufacturers and supply chain.”
Following the U.S. Army’s FLRAA contract award in December 2022, Bell established several new state-of-the-art facilities and several new innovative manufacturing processes to drive cost, schedule and performance to support program execution. As Bell and the FLRAA team work through the EMD phase, Bell’s focus will be on continued design maturation and prototyping.
The U.S. Army’s new long-range assault aircraft will fly twice as far and twice as fast as the current fleet. By utilizing mature tiltrotor technology coupled with an innovative digital engineering approach and a modular systems approach, it will be the most reliable, affordable and high-performing long-range assault aircraft in the world.
SOURCE: Bell
