GKN Expands Production Line for Additive Fabrication of A220 Engine Component

September 17, 2025

GKN Aerospace is adding a new production line to its facilities in Connecticut dedicated to additive fabrication of jet engine fan case mount rings. (Image: GKN Aerospace)

GKN Aerospace announced the expansion of its Newington, Connecticut facility, bringing a new production line dedicated to additive fabrication of the Fan Case Mount Ring (FCMR), a critical component of the Pratt & Whitney GTF engine powering the Airbus’ A220 and Embraer’s E195-E2 jet. The expansion will create new jobs and further strengthens GKN Aerospace’s presence in the U.S.

The FCMR program recently became the largest flight-critical additive component to achieve Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) certification and is on track for 100 percent serial production by the end of 2025. The component’s core structure, the additively fabricated ‘hot size ring’, is already being delivered from GKN Aerospace’s Trollhättan facility in Sweden, with final machining completed in Newington. The expansion will support production ramp-up as well as helping to meet wider market demand.

GKN Aerospace’s proprietary additive fabrication process reduces material consumption, shortens production lead times, and is projected to achieve over 70 percent material savings. Critically, it will also help to strengthen global supply chains, by offering and alternative production method.

"This expansion in Connecticut marks a major milestone for GKN Aerospace and our Fan Case Mount Ring program. The combination of strong local support, the highly skilled workforce and the availability of an aerospace network and infrastructure here allows us to bring our latest additive fabrication technology into industrial-scale production, creating jobs and supporting our long-term relationship with Pratt & Whitney," said Joakim Andersson, President of GKN's Engines Division. "We are proving that additive fabrication is not only technically transformative but also delivers real-world benefits in sustainability, lead-time and predictability for our customers."

The expansion of the Connecticut facility follows other additively fabricated FCMR production updates shared by GKN earlier this year.

With their additively manufactured FCMR now in serial production, and key additive insertion activities for GE Aerospace now also underway, current results demonstrate around 40 percent material waste reduction per part compared to traditional manufacturing methods. In the future, GKN Aerospace expects to achieve more than 70 percent material savings, while reducing end-to-end lead times from nine months to as little as four weeks.

In the past 12 months, GKN Aerospace has achieved several key additive certification and technology milestones. These include FAA approval for its first additively fabricated critical structural component and successful manufacturing of its largest ever all-additive component: a large-scale, titanium engine case for the CFMI RISE technology demonstrator. Produced using fully automated direct energy deposition, the structure met casting-quality standards and demonstrated the full design and build potential of large-scale additive fabrication.

"Today we already produce around 30 FCMR units per month at our Trollhättan facility. Expanding our cutting-edge technology, developed in Sweden, to the U.S. will support the full volume of FCMR production in one place. As well as ramping up our production for the FCMR, it will also enable us to expand our additive fabrication offering to other customers in the USA," said Sébastien Aknouche, Senior Vice President of Material Solutions, GKN Aerospace.

This expansion will accelerate from 2026 due to the modular additive fabrication production concept, which enables the rapid deployment of the technology in other sites globally.

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