Bell selects Fort Worth site to build V-280s for the FLRAA programme

Bell Textron has selected a site for its facility to support production on the US Army’s Future Long Range Assault Aircraft (FLRAA).

The 447,000 sq ft factory will be located in Fort Worth, Texas and will be dedicated to FLRAA component manufacturing, Bell said. Its V-280 Valor aircraft was selected for the FLRAA programme. 

Bell plans to begin facility modification and equipment installation to ready the facility for Low-Rate Initial Production (LRIP) by 2028.

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“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,” said Brig. Gen. David Phillips, programme executive officer for aviation for the US Army. 

“It is 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.”

The US Army FLRAA contract was awarded to Bell in December 2022, while the acquisition decision memorandum – the document that meant that the Army could start to look at options to push ahead with engineering and manufacturing development phase of the FLRAA – was passed in August 2024.

The FLRAA is a programme to develop a replacement for the S-70 Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter.

US Army acquisition executive Douglas R. Bush said previously that it would not act as a like-for-like replacement, but instead would “provide assault and Medevac capabilities for the future Army, adding significantly increased speed, range and endurance”.

Related Programmes in Defence Insight

Future Long Range Assault Aircraft (FLRAA) [USA]

Related Equipment in Defence Insight

V-280 Valor