Avio USA Breaks Ground on $500M Solid Rocket Motor Plant in Hurt, Virginia

# Project snapshot Avio USA broke ground Sept. 29 on its first U.S. manufacturing facility: a roughly 900,000-square-foot complex at the Southern Virginia Multimodal Park in Hurt, Virginia. The company describes the project as an advanced manufacturing investment exceeding $500 million. Construction work is slated to finish in late 2028 and production is expected to begin in early 2029.

# What the facility will do The plant is planned to produce solid rocket motors, with capacity described by Avio as capable of turning out thousands of motors annually for U.S. tactical missile programs. Avio has framed the operation as an "independent, open-source merchant supplier" intended to support multiple customers and provide defense primes with an additional source for solid rocket motors.

# Key partners and contracts

• General contractor: HITT Contracting of Falls Church, Virginia. HITT Executive Vice President Josh Foreso commented on the company's local manufacturing and aerospace construction experience and said HITT plans to work with local trade contractors.
• Engineering and environmental support: Dewberry Engineers performed a Phase I environmental site assessment, wetlands delineation, surveying and plat adjustments, and design of a gravel access drive for the industrial park and project.
• Customer access agreements: Lockheed Martin has a November 2025 term sheet giving it preferred access to a portion of plant capacity for future tactical- and strategic-size solid rocket motors. Raytheon (an RTX business) signed a memorandum of understanding for preferred access to a share of production capacity.
• Development and early production contract: Defense Systems and Solutions, a joint venture of Yulista Integrated Solutions and Science and Engineering Services, awarded Avio an approximately $65 million, three-year contract in March to develop, qualify and initially produce a solid rocket motor for air-defense applications. Avio said full-series production beginning in 2029 could use the Virginia facility.

# Timeline and long-lead work Avio reported to investors on Sept. 10 that plant design was progressing and orders were under way for long-lead process equipment. Public records referenced engineering and environmental preparatory work for the site. The company told ENR on Sept. 30 that the project's final construction plan was still being developed and that more specific details would be released later.

# Public support and financing Avio is eligible for a Virginia special appropriation of up to $97.7 million if the project exceeds $500 million in investment and creates more than 1,000 jobs. The Virginia Tobacco Region Revitalization Commission approved a $7.5 million loan to the Staunton River Regional Industrial Facility Authority to support the project.

# Why it matters locally The plant brings a large manufacturing footprint and planned job creation to Pittsylvania County and the Southern Virginia Multimodal Park. HITT's stated intent to hire local trade contractors and the presence of state incentives and a local loan signal public-private collaboration to attract defense manufacturing capacity to the region.

# Next steps to watch

• Hiring and workforce development announcements tied to the project and the 1,000+ job target used for incentive eligibility.
• Any firm production contracts that convert the preferred access term sheets and MOUs with Lockheed Martin and Raytheon into defined orders.
• Qualification and scale-up milestones tied to the $65 million development and initial production contract for an air-defense solid rocket motor.