On Thursday, Boeing officially opened a renovated factory near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania that will produce aircraft fuselages for the U.S. Marines.
Officials said Boeing invested $115 million to upgrade the 350,000-square-foot facility over two years of construction.
“We started this project two years ago in a mothballed building,” David Koopersmith, the general manager of Boeing’s vertical lift aircraft division, said in a statement. “Now, it is a state-of-the-art manufacturing center for the only in-service tiltrotor aircraft in the world.”
The complex will manufacture the aircraft body as the Marine Corps modernizes its fleet of V-22 tiltrotors, which offer the capabilities of helicopters as well as the ability to fly at high speeds and altitudes.
The aerospace giant said the factory would improve safety, bolster productivity, lower costs, and reduce its environmental impact. The manufacturing process will also standardize the V-22’s configuration.
Marine Corps Col. Matthew Kelly, the V-22 joint program manager, called the aircraft modernization program “our number one priority.”
Boeing also plans to make fuselages in Pennsylvania for the Air Force and Navy, as well as international customers.
