Bell Helicopter, a Textron Inc. company (NYSE: TXT), announced today that Spirit AeroSystems (NYSE: SPR) will design, develop and manufacture the fuselage for the Bell V-280 Valor™.

“We are pleased Spirit has made the strategic decision to join Team Valor and will provide the fuselage for the Bell V-280, our third generation tiltrotor,” said John Garrison, president and CEO of Bell Helicopter. “Spirit joins our growing team of aerospace leaders who are aligning their interests and resources to deliver the highest levels of maturity and technical readiness to the U.S. Army for their future vertical lift missions.”

“Spirit, one of the world’s largest composite aerostructures design/build manufacturers, is proud to be a part of Team Valor,” said Larry Lawson, president and CEO, Spirit AeroSystems. “This is an important teaming relationship for both our companies to deliver the best value to such a vital customer as the U.S. Army. Designing and building the fuselage on the V-280 Valor centers on Spirit’s core strengths, given our proven capabilities in large-scale advanced composite design and manufacturing, derived from both commercial and military platforms. Spirit is excited to bring our high quality, low-cost solutions to bear in support of U.S. warfighters’ need for a Future Vertical Lift family of systems with unparalleled range, speed and payload.”

Team Valor is comprised of leading aerospace companies, bringing the best engineering resources, industrial capabilities, and critical thinking in the industry to meet the Army’s needs. Additional team members will be announced in the coming weeks.

The transformational features of Bell Helicopter’s third generation tiltrotor represent the most operationally effective aircraft for the U.S. Army’s Future Vertical Lift requirements. With increased maintainability and component and systems reliability, the Bell V-280 is designed to deliver the best value in procurement, operations and support, and force structure. With twice the speed and range of the US Army’s current fleet, the Bell V-280 Valor will offer commanders a combat maneuver platform with unmatched operational agility to self-deploy and perform a multitude of vertical lift missions.