August 10, 2020 Bell unveiled a New Manufacturing Technology Center in Fort Worth, Texas, USA; “Fort Worth, Texas (August 10, 2020) – Bell Textron Inc., a Textron Inc. (NYSE: TXT) company, unveiled today its new 140,000-square-foot Manufacturing Technology Center (MTC) in Fort Worth, Texas. The MTC is an innovative proving ground where Bell will test and refine technologies and processes-demonstrating manufacturing readiness and ability to successfully build and support Future Vertical Lift (FVL) aircraft. The facility provides capabilities that span all of Bell’s core manufacturing of rotor and drive systems, critical infrastructure and final assembly.

Since establishing a footprint in North Texas in 1951, Bell’s facilities have been a hub for new technology in aviation. Many milestones, including first flight of the XV-15, V-22, 609 and 407, took place in the DFW metroplex. Building FVL aircraft will require the right blend of investment in manufacturing technology and a quality workforce, as well as strong partnerships with the state and community, to deliver an affordable, capable and reliable aircraft for the warfighter.

“The MTC is the next step in successfully deploying new manufacturing technologies and processes into Bell’s future factories,” said Glenn Isbell, vice president, Rapid Prototyping & Manufacturing Innovation. “These future factories working together with our teammates and suppliers, will be designed to enable high-quality, high-rate production of the Bell V-280 Valor, Bell 360 Invictus and other future aircraft.”

This new facility includes a brand new, state of the art heat treating department which can be seen in the “artists rendering” below. The medium sized building in the center of the hall houses the actual heat treat system, just to the right is a cryogenic system and to the right of that you can see a vacuum temper. We are hopeful that in the near future we will be able to provide more details.”

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