Abstract: A blade containment system for fan blades of a gas turbine engine includes a fan casing surrounding the fan blades and serving as a first blade containment structure and a second blade containment structure positioned axially forward of the fan casing within an engine nacelle. The second containment structure preferably includes an inner liner of noise absorbing material, such as honeycomb paneling. Preferably, the second containment structure comprises a ring of titanium material having axially oriented stiffeners for controlling bending upon impact by a broken blade or blade fragment. The stiffeners are desirably integrally formed in the ring and the ring is illustratively produced by super plastic forming. The ring may be formed as a plurality of arcuate segments having edges adapted for joining with adjacent segments to form a complete ring. A flange may be attached to an aft edge of the ring and used to connect the ring to the fan casing.