... 09-73 F-14 D Grumman Tomcat Fighter Super Navy 11-87 XF-9 2 Grumman Panther Fighter Sub Navy 11-47 Design TD/Prototype FSD Upgrade X-Plane Aircraft Suffix Start End Start. 180 The Cutting Edge: AHalf Century of Fighter Aircraft R&D.
Author: Mark A. Lorell
Publisher: Rand Corporation
ISBN: 9780833025951
Category: History
Page: 248
View: 496
The proposition that innovation is critical in the cost-effective design and development of successful military aircraft is still subject to some debate. RAND research indicates that innovation is promoted by intense competition among three or more industry competitors. Given the critical policy importance of this issue in the current environment of drastic consolidation of the aerospace defense industry, the authors here examine the history of the major prime contractors in developing jet fighters since World War II. They make use of an extensive RAND database that includes nearly all jet fighters, fighter-attack aircraft, and bombers developed and flown by U.S. industry since 1945, as well as all related prototypes, modifications, upgrades, etc. The report concludes that (1) experience matters, because of the tendency to specialize and thus to develop system-specific expertise; (2) yet the most dramatic innovations and breakthroughs came from secondary or marginal players trying to compete with the industry leaders; and (3) dedicated military R&D conducted or directly funded by the U.S. government has been critical in the development of new higher-performance fighters and bombers.