Fort Worth-based Bell Textron has announced an April construction start for its new $632 million factory in North Fort Worth, which will build parts for the U.S. Army’s new Bell MV-75 Future Long Range Assault Aircraft. The tilt-rotor MV-75 replaces the famed Black Hawk helicopter, flying twice as fast and twice as far while providing superior air assault and MEDEVAC capability. The Army’s contract award to Bell Textron could potentially be worth around $70 billion across the life of the MV-75 fleet, Bell has said.

The factory is sited within Dallas-based Hillwood’s massive AllianceTexas development, and could create more than 500 jobs. Bell first announced the facility in December 2024 at a press conference featuring Bell executives, Gov. Greg Abbott, Fort Worth Mayor Mattie Parker, and other officials.

Rendering of Bell Textron’s $632M Army helicopter parts factory at AllianceTexas in North Fort Worth. [Photo: Hillwood]

According to Hillwood, filings with the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation point to Bell Textron launching an initial $70 million on the project, including renovation and an addition to an existing building formerly occupied by Stanley Black and Decker. Kansas City-based Burns & McDonnell is listed as the design firm on the project.

“Our team is beginning work on building improvements and expansion for our new manufacturing facility,” the statement read. “This facility represents one of several investments Bell has made in our North Texas area footprint, and the team is excited to get started. We’ll share more details as the facility progresses.”

Other North Texas facilities will also support the MV-75

Bell’s planned factory in AllianceTexas is only the latest investment by the company to support manufacturing of the MV-75, which is now on an “accelerated timeline,” Hillwood said. Other new facilities in Dallas-Fort Worth include the $20 million-plus Drive Systems Test Lab in Grand Prairie to test technology including gearboxes, and a Weapons Systems Integration Lab in Arlington near Bell’s existing flight research center.

Bell will assemble the MV-75 in Amarillo, and make its fuselages in Wichita, Kansas.

More than 1,000 employees are working on the engineering and manufacturing development portion of the MV-75, Bell executives have said. Bell Textron employs more than 8,000 people, with around 4,000 of them based in Fort Worth. Those numbers could increase due to the Army contract, Hillwood noted.

Competing to train Army pilots as well

Bell is also competing for a contract to train Army pilots using Bell’s helicopters, replacing the UH-72 Lakota with the Bell 505, Hillwood said. Competition for the contract includes Denton-based M1 Support Services and Bethesda, Maryland-based Lockheed Martin. Bell advanced to the second phase of the selection process in January, according to a company announcement.

Bell’s new factory in AllianceTexas marks the state’s first approval of incentives under the new Texas Jobs, Energy, Technology and Innovation Act program, or JETI, which replaced the Chapter 313 program. JETI provides companies with a 10-year break on the maintenance and operations portion of school district property taxes by limiting the appraised value of a property, Hillwood noted, with companies having to meet job creation and investment criteria in order to qualify.

Don’t miss what’s next. Subscribe to Dallas Innovates.

Track Dallas-Fort Worth’s business and innovation landscape with our curated news in your inbox Tuesday-Thursday.