Avio USA has broken ground on a new Virginia plant that will produce thousands of solid rocket motors a year for US missile programs.
The approximately 900,000-square-foot (83,612-square-meter) facility in Hurt, Virginia, is being built at the Southern Virginia Multimodal Park and is expected to begin production in early 2029. Avio USA said construction should be completed by late 2028.
Once operational, the plant is expected to create about 1,500 jobs and supply solid rocket motors for multiple US tactical missile programs.
Avio USA is a subsidiary of Italy-based Avio, which develops propulsion systems for defense and space applications.
The facility is expected to support programs involving Lockheed Martin and Raytheon, although the companies did not disclose specific missile quantities or production rates for individual programs.
“Our goal is to be an independent, open-source merchant supplier, able to support multiple customers and programs and provide major defense primes with an additional source for this critical capability,” Avio USA CEO James Syring said.
US Expands Solid Rocket Motor Production
Solid rocket motors are a critical component of many missiles and interceptors, providing the propulsion needed to accelerate weapons after launch. Defense firms are expanding production as the US seeks to address capacity constraints in the munitions supply chain.
In September, Northrop Grumman opened a new manufacturing facility in Elkton, Maryland, expanding its capacity for solid rocket motors and hypersonic propulsion systems. The 57,000-square-foot (5,295-square-meter) Propulsion Innovation Center will employ about 250 engineers to support US and allied defense programs.
In June, L3Harris Technologies invested $25 million to expand its Huntsville, Alabama, manufacturing footprint for solid rocket motor production.
Earlier, in February, the US Department of Defense awarded Anduril Industries $43.7 million in additional funding to expand domestic production.
