Saab cuts ribbon on Indiana aerospace plant

Buyers and processors of scrap from Indiana’s aerospace sector may receive a boost with the opening of a new facility in West Lafayette, Indiana.

The Saab Inc. business unit Sweden-based Saab held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for its new facility in West Lafayette, Indiana, in mid-October. This new research and assembly facility “represents a major step in both Saab’s global expansion strategy and growth and investment in the United States,” says the company.

Saab announced in May 2019 that West Lafayette would be the location for its expansion in the U.S. aerospace sector, and construction of the facility began in 2020. It has been completed on-time and on-budget, says the company, and will start by serving as the site for domestic production of Saab’s aft airframe section for the Boeing-Saab T-7A Red Hawk trainer aircraft. The plant also will support research and development in autonomy, artificial intelligence (AI) and advanced manufacturing, according to Saab.

A 2019 analysis of the T-7A (formerly known as the T-X) says it distinguished itself from another bid to win a large contract because it relied less on carbon fiber and instead “is an entirely metal aircraft.”

The analysis from Europe-based FlightGlobal.com quotes a Boeing official as saying, “It’s basically an all-metal aircraft. [It is] easy to repair [and] from an affordability standpoint, metal and making metal parts for us would be cheaper than designing tooling to make composite parts.”

“This high-tech facility and its growing workforce are a result of Saab’s continued investment in the United States,” says president and group CEO of Saab Micael Johansson. “Just as the T-7A Red Hawk will train the next generation of fighter and bomber pilots, we look forward to welcoming and training the next generation of aerospace engineers and other skilled employees.”

By 2027, Saab says it expects to hire up to 300 employees for the facility, including assemblers, engineers and system administrators. The West Lafayette facility will also work collaboratively with Purdue on research and development in sensor systems, artificial intelligence and other technologies. Saab says it plans to export products and technology from the Indiana facility.

“This new facility is our seventh U.S. location,” comments Erik Smith, president and CEO of East Syracuse, New York-based Saab Inc. “With our deep understanding of the mission of the U.S. military and a culture that drives us to work swiftly, efficiently and collaboratively with customers, we couldn’t be more excited about the opportunities ahead to help keep Americans safe at home and abroad.”

Saab’s site in West Lafayette will build an aft section of the T-7A Red Hawk with installed subsystems that extends from behind the cockpit to the end of the aircraft and supply them to Boeing’s final assembly line in St. Louis for joining with the other sections.

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The T-7A Red Hawk has been named in honor of the Tuskegee Airmen, the first African-American military aviators in the U.S. Army Air Corps.