Maintaining U.S. Leadership in Aeronautics

Although the U.S. aeronautics industry has been one of the undisputed success stories in global competitiveness throughout the latter half of this century and is currently one of the largest positive industrial contributors to the U.S. balance of trade, long-term strategic planning is necessary to ensure that the United States retains a strong and competitive aeronautics industry in the future. Recognizing that a long-term strategic plan for aeronautics requires a broad-based national perspective that includes the needs of users and consumers, the National Research Council conducted a workshop that would bring together experts from industry, government, and academia to analyze a number of possible scenarios for aeronautics 15 to 25 years hence. The results of the workshop, which are discussed in this book, focus on potential needs and opportunities for aviation and aeronautics in the future and their implications for several broad areas of technology development. These areas include new types of aircraft, improved system integration in aircraft design manufacturing and operations, passenger and crew safety and security, operating efficiency and cost effectiveness, environmental compliance and noise abatement, and access to space.Table of ContentsFRONT MATTEREXECUTIVE SUMMARY1: INTRODUCTION2: LONG-TERM GLOBAL SCENARIOS AND THEIR IMPLICATIONS FOR AERONAUTICS3: NEEDS AND OPPORTUNITIES, TECHNOLOGY IMPLICATIONS, AND THE FUTURE ROLE OF NASAAPPENDIX A: STATEMENT OF TASKAPPENDIX B: BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES OF STEERING COMMITTEE MEMBERSAPPENDIX C: WORKSHOP PARTICIPANTSAPPENDIX D: SCENARIO NARRATIVES AS PROVIDED BY THE NASA/TFG/SAIC CORE TEAMAPPENDIX E: WORKSHOP AGENDAAPPENDIX F: QUESTIONS FOR WORLD TEAM SESSIONSAPPENDIX G: BIBLIOGRAPHYAPPENDIX H: SCENARIO-BASED STRATEGIC PLANNING AS DESCRIBED BY THE FUTURES GROUP