Bell Announces $632M Next-Gen Assault Aircraft Factory in North Fort Worth, Creating Over 500 Jobs

In August, Fort Worth-based Bell Textron received U.S. Army approval to design, build, and test prototypes of the Future Long Range Assault Aircraft (FLRAA), which will replace the Army’s famed Black Hawk helicopter and is based on Bell’s tilt-rotor V-280 Valor. Tuesday—at a press conference featuring Bell executives, Gov. Greg Abbott, Fort Worth Mayor Mattie Parker, and other officials—the company announced that a $632 million factory in North Fort Worth will manufacture components for the next-gen attack aircraft.

The 447,000-square-foot factory in AllianceTexas is slated to begin facility modification and equipment installation and achieve facility readiness for low-rate initial production by 2028, Bell said. The facility is expected to create up to 520 jobs.

At the announcement of Bell’s $632 million Bell factory coming to AllianceTexas to manufacture components for the Future Long Range Assault Aircraft. [Photo: Bell]

Gov. Abbott said the new manufacturing facility is the first project under Texas’ new JETI program, which is “part of our broader strategy to build a better-prepared and a better-paid workforce by encouraging companies like Bell to expand manufacturing in Texas.” A Texas Enterprise Fund (TEF) grant of $2,671,500 has been extended to Bell in relation to the facility’s expansion, the governor’s office said.

FLRAA ‘will revolutionize Army aviation’

“The U.S. Army’s Future Long Range Assault Aircraft will revolutionize Army aviation, and Bell is proud that one of the most critical FLRAA manufacturing sites will be in Fort Worth,” Bell President and CEO Lisa Atherton said in a statement. “This facility also represents a strong economic partnership with the state of Texas, the city of Fort Worth, Northwest ISD, and Denton County. Their support has made it possible for Bell to significantly expand our footprint in North Texas and provide revolutionary capability to our nation’s warfighters.”

Brig. Gen. David Phillips said the Army “is committed to delivering the Future Long Range Assault Aircraft providing the speed, range, and endurance needed to conduct effective air assault, MEDEVAC, and resupply missions for future large-scale combat operations.”

“It’s great to see our industry partners share in that commitment by investing in state-of-the-art facilities to produce the Army’s first ‘born digital’ aircraft weapon system,” Phillips added in a statement.

Flies twice as far—and twice as fast—as the Black Hawk

The U.S. Army’s new long-range assault aircraft will fly twice as far and twice as fast as the current fleet, Bell noted. The next-gen aircraft utilizes mature tiltrotor technology coupled with an innovative digital engineering approach and a modular open systems approach—and aims to be “the most reliable, affordable, and high-performing long-range assault aircraft in the world,” the company said.

In December 2022, Bell won the U.S. Army’s biggest helicopter competition in 40 years when it was awarded an initial U.S. Army contract then worth up to $1.3 billion to replace the Black Hawk combat attack helicopter. Bell’s tilt-rotor V-280 Valor was developed and tested as part of the Army’s Joint Multi-Role Technology Demonstrator program, which began in 2013.

Following that 2022 award, Bell said it has established several new “state-of-the-art” facilities to advance innovative manufacturing processes driving affordability, schedule, and performance.

As Bell and the FLRAA team work through the project’s next phase, Bell’s focus will be on “continued design maturation and prototyping,” the company said.