New 900,000-sq-ft US plant to churn out thousands of solid rocket motors for missiles

Avio USA has broken ground on a roughly 900,000-square-foot solid rocket motor factory in Hurt, Virginia, designed to produce thousands of motors annually for tactical missile programs. The facility at Southern Virginia Multimodal Park is expected to create approximately 1,500 technical jobs while adding a new supplier to the missile and munitions manufacturing base. Construction is scheduled to finish in late 2028, with production anticipated to begin in early 2029. The plant is being developed to serve multiple defense customers, including programs for Lockheed Martin and Raytheon. Expanding missile motor supply The project marks Avio USA’s first manufacturing facility in the United States. Its planned output is intended to expand the availability of solid rocket motors, a critical propulsion component for tactical missiles. Rather than supplying a single customer or missile program, the company plans to operate as an independent merchant supplier serving multiple manufacturers. “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,” said James Syring, CEO of Avio USA. “That means more capacity, more competition and greater resilience in the American rocket motor supply chain.” The approach gives defense manufacturers an additional sourcing option as they seek to increase production. The announcement identifies annual capacity in the thousands but does not specify an exact production target or list the missile systems whose motors will be manufactured there. Propulsion expertise meets local manufacturing Avio USA is a subsidiary of Rome-based Avio S.p.A., which develops rocket and space propulsion systems. The subsidiary operates under a Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency Special Security Agreement. The Virginia investment establishes a manufacturing presence that combines the parent company’s propulsion experience with a locally recruited workforce. “Avio USA is building more than a manufacturing facility in Virginia. We are building an American company and workforce that can bring Avio’s proven propulsion expertise to the U.S. defense market,” Syring said. Avio CEO Giulio Ranzo said the successful completion of the company’s capital raise provided resources for the investment. “Combining our proven expertise with local talent, we will support our customers and contribute to a more resilient defense supply chain,” he said. The company expects the project to generate roughly 1,500 technical positions in Southern Virginia, making workforce development a substantial part of the planned expansion. Defense manufacturers back additional capacity HITT Contracting is leading construction as the project’s general contractor. Its work covers delivery of the advanced manufacturing facility ahead of the planned production launch. Lockheed Martin and Raytheon both welcomed the additional rocket motor capacity and the opportunity to diversify their supplier networks. “This new facility is a significant step toward a more robust and diverse supply chain for solid rocket motors that are critical to our nation’s defense,” said Tim Cahill, president of Lockheed Martin Missiles & Fire Control. Raytheon’s Bob Butz, senior vice president of Operations, Supply Chain and Quality, said additional sourcing options support long-term growth across the defense industrial base.The factory’s planned early 2029 production launch would add another source of propulsion systems for tactical missile programs.Get the latest in engineering, tech, space & science - delivered daily to your inbox.Atharva is a full-time content writer with a post-graduate degree in media & amp; entertainment and a graduate degree in electronics & telecommunications. He has written in the sports and technology domains respectively. In his leisure time, Atharva loves learning about digital marketing and watching soccer matches. His main goal behind joining Interesting Engineering is to learn more about how the recent technological advancements are helping human beings on both societal and individual levels in their daily lives.