Post Falls ATC wins $6.7 million Air Force research contract

A Post Falls manufacturer is using a $6.7 million Air Force Research Laboratory award to step into a bigger class of aerospace parts, and the company says the work could bring several engineering and engineering technician jobs with it.

Advanced Thermoplastic Composites, which does business as ATC Manufacturing, won the contract for a research program called Thermoplastic Composites for Large High-Rate Aircraft Structures. Brian Shanahan, ATC’s research and development program manager, said the goal is to show that large stamp-formed continuous-fiber thermoplastic composites can be used for next-generation Air Force and defense aircraft. The scope includes material testing, material qualification, subscale prototyping and, eventually, full-scale structures for the Air Force Research Laboratory.

The award matters in Post Falls because ATC is trying to move from smaller aerospace components, such as brackets, clips and beams, into much larger parts. The company says very few facilities in the country can produce pieces bigger than a person’s arm. Its new hydraulic press system, announced March 18, is designed to form parts up to 122 inches by 61 inches, or about 10 feet by 5 feet, with the larger system expected online in the first half of 2027.

That scale-up could deepen ATC’s role in the local manufacturing base. ATC says it has worked in thermoplastic aerospace manufacturing for years and moved into a custom-built, state-of-the-art facility in 2015. The company also says it has produced more than 2 million thermoplastic composite parts for commercial aircraft, a sign that the Post Falls operation already has the production know-how to chase bigger defense work.

The Air Force Research Laboratory is the Department of the Air Force’s primary scientific research and development center, which gives the contract added weight beyond a single project. If the demonstration succeeds, it could help shape how future aircraft structures are built, especially as defense contractors look for lighter, stronger and more corrosion-resistant alternatives to metal.

ATC is not doing the work alone. The program also includes Anduril Industries in California and Toray Advanced Composites USA, a materials supplier that makes thermoplastic and thermoset composites for aerospace and other high-performance uses. ATC says its ties to the Thermo Plastic Composites Research Center in the Netherlands and The Composites Consortium in the United States have helped connect the Post Falls company to wider industry networks.

Jacob Bonwell, ATC’s chief executive officer, has been promoting thermoplastic composites as sustainable aerospace materials since a Post Falls Chamber of Commerce luncheon in February 2024. Now the company’s pitch has become a federal contract, with technical work that could translate into more skilled jobs, more advanced equipment and a larger aerospace footprint for Kootenai County.