Bell to Produce, Test Military Aircraft Tech at New Fort Worth Facility

Bell has offered a glimpse into a new facility in Fort Worth, Texas, where the Textron subsidiary will create technologies necessary for the production of tiltrotor aircraft for the U.S. Army’s Future Vertical Lift program and other military helicopter offerings.

The Manufacturing Technology Center has 140K square feet of space and is equipped with information technology,  cybersecurity and internet of things systems built to help the manufacturer manage factory operations, Textron said Monday.

Glenn Isbell, vice president of rapid prototyping and manufacturing innovation at Bell, said the new facility will support high-rate production efforts for the Bell 360 Invictus, the Bell V-280 Valor and other aircraft platforms.

The Army selected Bell and Lockheed Martin’s Sikorsky subsidiary in March to participate in risk reduction and demonstration efforts for the Future Long-Range Assault Aircraft program, which is among the branch’s four FVL modernization efforts.

Nine companies have joined Team Invictus including GE Aviation, L3 Harris Technologies and Raytheon Technologies‘ Collins Aerospace business.