Saab receives $101 million order to construct Boeing fuselage in West Lafayette

West Lafayette, Indiana – An order for $101 million was placed with Saab, a renowned military and security company, to assemble plane fuselage systems at its West Lafayette manufacturing facility.

Following the successful arrival of the first two T-7A Red Hawks at U.S. Air Force facilities for developmental flight tests, aircraft manufacturer Boeing placed an order for $101.7 million to create T-7A aft fuselage systems, the company announced in a release on Tuesday.

Three miles southwest of Valparaiso in Okaloosa County, the first T-7A was delivered to Edwards Air Force Base in Kern County, California, while the second one was delivered to Eglin Air Force Base in the western Florida Panhandle.

“I’m incredibly proud of the dedication and hard work that the Saab team has put into the T-7A program. Our West Lafayette workforce has been busy ramping up production since manufacturing was transferred from Sweden to the United States. Our facility is full of new employees and equipment, and every day we see more progress. This new order means we can take our production to the next level,” said Erik Smith, president and CEO of Saab in the U.S., in a release.

With plans to hire up to 300 people by 2027, Saab’s $37 million research and manufacturing plant in West Lafayette is expected to open in 2021.