Airborne Tactical Advantage Company (ATAC), part of Textron Airborne Solutions, on Oct. 11 broke ground on its new Adversary Center of Excellence (ACE) to perform maintenance, repair and overhaul work at Fort Worth Alliance Airport.
At the ceremony, the company also revealed its first reassembled ex-French Air Force Mirage F1’s purchased last year in a deal for 63 aircraft and many spare parts. Local officials from the city of Haslet and Tarrant County, as well as Alliance Airport operator Hillwood, were instrumental in ATAC’s decision to move to the Dallas Fort Worth area, according to the company.
Upon completion, ATAC’s ACE facility will be the company’s largest operation to date, envisioned to include as many as 200 personnel responsible for the maintenance of high-performance aircraft operating at multiple locations throughout the U.S. Within ATAC ACE is a new 75,000 square foot hangar facility which is designed to support not only maintenance but pilot training and professional development. The new hangar is expected to be completed by summer of 2019.
Initial activities will address the stand up of ATAC’s Mirage F1 fighter fleet, as well as refurbishment, repair and upgrade requirements. Future aircraft types and mission support areas are also contemplated, according to the company. ATAC comprises the world’s largest outsourced civilian, tactical airborne training organization, including a current fleet consisting of roughly 90 high performance tactical fighter aircraft.
For the last 20 years, ATAC, has trained Navy, Marine, Air Force and Army air-crews, ship-crews, and Combat Controllers in the air-to-ship, air-to-air, and air-to-ground arenas.
Fort Worth Alliance Airport, the world’s first industrial airport, anchors AllianceTexas, a 26,000-acre, master-planned community developed by Hillwood, a Perot Company. AllianceTexas is home to over 488 companies, which have built more than 43 million square feet, created over 48,800 jobs, and has generated more than $69 billion in economic impact for the North Texas region