With a bit of fanfare, Boeing workers and representatives, and the region’s U.S. House delegation opened a new $130 million factory at the Ridley Park helicopter complex Thursday, writes Joseph N. DiStefano for The Philadelphia Inquirer.

The factory will enable Boeing to refurbish V-22 tilt-rotor Osprey assault support aircraft while building new ones as the U.S. Marines add to and update its 300-plus Ospreys, in air-conditioned comfort.

Besides the Marines, Boeing has long-term deals to supply 50 Ospreys for U.S. Air Force special operations, at least 40 for U.S. Navy carriers, and 17 for the government of Japan.

Japan is beefing up defenses and training troops on Ospreys in North Carolina as China and North Korea expand their military.

Boeing expects to deliver about 20 new Ospreys this year, at $71 million each.

“Where there is trouble in the world, we want V-22s” from the Ridley Park plant, said Marine Col. Matthew Kelly, the corps’ Osprey program manager.

In moving to the riverside part of the plant, Boeing shuttered the old fuselage plant west of Route 291. The old plant had no air conditioning and “was really hot in the summer.”

Read more about the factory opening here.

[uam_ad id=”62465″]