Spirit AeroSystems Gets $80M in Defence Production Act Funding

Spirit AeroSystems has announced that the U.S Department of Defence (DoD) has allocated $80 million to expand the company’s domestic production capability for advanced tooling, composite fabrication and metallic fabrication. These funds are part of the national response to COVID-19 in support of the Defence Industrial Base.

Spirit will utilise the funds to build tooling, fabricate composite parts and machine complex metallic parts at its Wichita, Kan., facility. Spirit designs and manufactures both composite and metallic structures for commercial and defence customers.

With long-standing machining capabilities, Spirit produces more than 3 million parts annually for equipment manufacturers at peak production. The 5-axis centre in Wichita focuses on large, complex, soft metal parts for fuselage, pylon and wing structures, all built on high-tech, high-speed, latest-generation equipment and is part of 12M sqft of manufacturing space.

Our growing work on defence programs has provided a measure of stability for the company, and helped us as we shift capacity to serve other needs, particularly in the defence market

Duane Hawkins, Senior Vice President; President, Defense and Fabrication, Spirit AeroSystems

The company supports a number of military programs, including programs for the U.S. Air Force, the U.S. Navy, the U.S. Marine Corps and the U.S. Army.