A new manufacturing plant has broken ground in Hurt, Virginia.
HITT Contracting, the eighth largest contractor in the country by revenue, has broken ground on Avio USA’s new, 900,000-square-foot solid rocket motor plant, the contractor announced last week.
Avio USA, a subsidiary of Italian rocket and propulsion firm Avio S.p.A., will use the facility to produce thousands of solid rocket motors annually for U.S. tactical missile programs, per the announcement. Clients and end users include firms such as Lockheed Martin and Raytheon. The facility represents a $500 million investment, according to a Sept. 30 announcement from Rep. John McGuire, R-Va.
HITT will act as the general contractor for the build, according to the firm’s announcement.
Josh Foreso, executive vice president at HITT, told Construction Dive via email that the team was taking careful planning considerations for the build. It features more than 35 separate structures designed for protective construction, environmental controls and administrative spaces.
“The site’s complex topography poses construction challenges for logistics, but works well for the final layout of the facility and its long-term functionality,” Foreso said.
Avio’s new manufacturing facility is one of the latest in a wave of solid rocket motor construction projects, according to Westside Construction Group, a commercial general contractor based in Churchville, New York. In May, the contractor pegged the wave at more than $3 billion and as one of the most concentrated defense manufacturing surges since World War II.
Indeed, the Defense Department’s inspector general recently reported that the Iran war has led to a shortage of U.S. munitions, according to NBC News.
Construction is expected to complete in 2028, while production is expected to begin in early 2029.
