Italian rocket builder Avio has selected commercial real estate development company ACMI Properties to design its first US-based solid rocket motor production facility.
Arlington-headquartered Avio USA was incorporated on 25 April 2022. At the time, Avio stated that the wholly-owned subsidiary would be used to “explore business opportunities in the US market.” By 2023, the company revealed that it had identified “a significant production capacity gap relative to the substantial acceleration in demand requirements” in the area of tactical propulsion.
On 23 July 2024, the company announced that it had secured a contract with defence giant Raytheon to develop solid rocket motors for defense applications. On the same day, it announced a second contract with the U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command Aviation & Missile Center for the “development and fast-prototyping of a solid rocket motor for surface-to-air applications.”
While Avio will begin to deliver on both contracts with capacity from its Italian production facility, its agreement with ACMI Properties outlines its intention to build out its US-based production capabilities.
“We are seeing significant demand for our capabilities from our current customers in multiple product lines, and this facility will be critical in creating our production capacity so we can meet the needs of our current and future customers as an independent supplier,” said Avio USA CEO James Syring.
According to a 29 October press release, Avio USA is evaluating a number of possible locations in multiple US states for the several-hundred-acre production facility. A decision on the location of the facility is expected in the first half of 2025.
