Saab Expands with Opening of New Facility in Indiana
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Saab has opened its new facility located in West Lafayette, Indiana. This purpose-built facility represents a major step in both Saab’s global expansion strategy and growth and investment in the U.S.
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 and will start by being the site for domestic production of Saab’s aft airframe section for the T-7A Red Hawk trainer program. It will also support research and development in autonomy, artificial intelligence and advanced manufacturing.
By 2027, Saab expects to hire up to 300 employees for this facility, including assemblers, engineers, system administrators, and more. The West Lafayette facility will also work collaboratively with Purdue on research and development in sensor systems, artificial intelligence and more. Saab plans to export products and technology from this facility.
“We are thrilled by the internship and employment opportunities this relationship will bring to Purdue University students and alumni,” said Mitch Daniels, President of Purdue University. “It is a privilege to house the new Saab facility in Purdue’s Discovery Park District, and to collaborate with a world-renowned company like Saab in protecting the security of Americans.”
The T-7A Red Hawk is an all-new, advanced pilot training system designed and manufactured through a Saab-Boeing partnership for the U.S. Air Force to train the next generation of fighter and bomber pilots. Saab’s site in West Lafayette will build an aft section 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 front section, wings, fins and tail.
The T-7A Red Hawk has been named as an ode to the Tuskegee Airmen, the first African-American military aviators in the U.S. Army Air Corps, which eventually became the U.S. Air Force. In World War II, these aviators frequently painted their planes with a red-tailed color scheme, and the T-7A has been officially named the Red Hawk in their honor.
