The acquisition of a previously abandoned munitions assembly facility by Firehawk Aerospace is set to bring 100 new jobs to the region over the next five years.
Firehawk acquired three buildings at the Crawford site and entered into a 20-year lease agreement for 636 acres, according to a press release issued Friday by the Golden Triangle Development LINK. Firehawk Aerospace is a Texas-based munitions company that develops rockets and motors powered by 3D printed propellants.
“It’s always exciting, and a good sign when we see vacant buildings that are being (repurposed),” Meryl Fisackerly, chief operating officer for the LINK, told The Dispatch.
… It speaks strongly of the assets that we have here and that they’re ready for business.”
The Defense Contract Management Agency-certified integration site sits off Wicker Road in Crawford and was previously an assembly center for Nammo Talley, a munitions development company under Norway-based Nammo, Fisackerly said.
The site has sat abandoned since it ceased production around 2022, Fisackerly said.
The three buildings Firehawk acquired – an assembly facility, a warehouse and a bunker for storing munitions – total nearly 20,000 square feet, and the company already has plans to expand some, Fisackerly said.
Hayley Milbourn, spokesperson for Firehawk, said the company plans to add several more assembly lines and additional bunkers to increase storage capacity at the site.
“The facility is capable of (assembling) thousands of rockets per month now, with plans to expand … to 10,000 a month by 2027,” Milbourn wrote in an email to The Dispatch.
Milbourn said the company settled on the site because of the already existing munitions assembly infrastructure there. She also pointed to Mississippi’s “supportive business environment, a growing aerospace and defense corridor and access to strong technical and research institutions.”
“This specific site offers 636 acres that allow Firehawk to scale as new contracts and systems come online,” Milbourn said. “Just as importantly, it is a turnkey, DCMA-certified facility with earth-covered bunkers, integration bays and office space already in place – allowing the company to move quickly and begin operations without delay.”
Milbourn did not disclose the range of salaries that will be offered for positions at the facility, but she said they would vary based on the role and skillset necessary for the position. Fisackerly said jobs will open over the next five years as the facility ramps up production.
Neither Fisackerly nor Milbourn would disclose the cost of acquisition for the buildings on site or the lease amount for the 636 acres.
The “rebirth” of the site, Fisackerly said, is an important development for the region’s economy and should prove to be a strong addition to the county.
“We get to see rehabilitation and modernization of the vacant facility, (and) we get to see the impact of these new jobs,” she said. “… And then we get to watch this company make significant (investments) over the next few years, which will just continue to strengthen our local economy.”
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