Resources

Life Cycle Benefits of Collaborative MBSE Use for Early Requirements Development

AIA believes government and industry can realize significant benefits by increasing and improving collaborative government and industry use of Model-based Systems Engineering (MBSE), especially during the early requirements definition phase. This white paper discusses the current state and benefits of MBSE across the entire life cycle and provides proposals for addressing such issues as MBSE Collaborative Framework, Government Data Rights, Intellectual Property, and Life Cycle Effectiveness with...

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Earth Observation Report

The Aerospace Industries Association takes great pride in our member companies’ work in support of the space-based Earth observations capabilities that NASA, NOAA, the U.S. Geological Survey, and other government agencies put to use on behalf of our nation and people worldwide. Today, as this report details, space-based Earth observations are critical to saving lives in the event of natural disasters, improving the management of our resources and infrastructure, understanding our weath...

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AIA Powerplant Indications Task Team Report

The AIA Powerplant Indications Task Team was formed July 2001 in response to the FAA draft Harmonization Terms of Reference 25.1305. The team includes representation from several airframe manufacturers, engine manufacturers and regulatory agencies. The team has provided a series of recommendations for revsions of provisions in the Federal Aviation Regulations Certification Specifications. This report summarizes the team's activities.

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Aviation: A Key to Economic Prosperity

Aeronautics – the science of flight – is a cornerstone of economic prosperity and is critical to maintaining our national security and defense. Today’s aviation industry owes its successes to U.S.-led research and development efforts to improve safety, reliability, and efficiency of air travel. U.S. leadership in aerospace – specifically in aeronautics – has established the United States as the destination for students from around the world who seek to learn from the world’s le...

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Unmanned Aircraft Systems: Evolution and Opportunity

Since the Aerospace Industry Association’s 2013 report on unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), unmanned flight technology and platforms have continued to evolve in new and innovative ways. Small start-ups to major global corporations are establishing UAS-based aviation services and solutions, and there is continued growth projected for military UAS flights and orders. A cultural shift driven by consumer and commercial use is underway as well. Due to the increasing availability of low-co...

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Unmanned Aircraft Systems: Myth vs. Reality

The emergence of unmanned or remotely piloted aircraft systems for civil and commercial applications is among the most significant aviation advancements in decades. On almost a daily basis, new beneficial applications of this evolving technology are being demonstrated. While public perception of unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) has been mixed, the public debate is changing as more system uses emerge that create personal and economic benefits for the general population.

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Industry Innovation and Government Oversight: An Effective Partnership for Safety in the Skies

Taken by any measure, aviation continues to top the list of the world’s safest forms of transportation. In terms of hours flown, number of passengers transported, and number of aircraft in the air – across commercial, general aviation and cargo sectors – the single most dangerous part about flying continues to be, in the words of one analyst, “driving to the airport." In total, the decades-long upward trend in aviation safety reflects not only technological advances, and the con...

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Acquisition Rebalancing: Recommendations for Smart, Efficient & Effective Defense Procurement

The Department of Defense (DOD) must change how it acquires weapon systems and services. There is growing recognition from DOD leadership, Congress and the defense industry that it is time to revise the overly complex and burdensome system that drives unnecessary cost into programs and will soon make them unaffordable as defense budgets decline. Making the acquisition system more economic and more responsive has been an elusive target. The challenges of time-to-delivery and product c...

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The New American Space Age

Across the government and private sectors, more vehicles are now being built for human spaceflight than at any other point in history. Today’s NASA human spaceflight program is an ecosystem of diverse activity – developing both exploration systems and commercial transportation services. These elements are strategically linked to one another and vital to the success of the overall human spaceflight program. In the field of suborbital spaceflight, private companies are developing space...

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Defense Research & Development: From the Warfighter to American Consumers, Redefining Everyday Lives Through Innovation

Federal investments in science and technology research and development are threatened by the current budget environment. The Aerospace Industries Association is embarking on an education effort to inform policymakers, elected leaders and the American public on the impact of federal R&D dollars on the innovations that redefine our everyday lives. This report – the first in a series that examines the impact of federal investment programs – highlights four case studies of private ...

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Restoring Balance in the Defense Acquisition System

Over the past quarter century, more than 300 commissions and studies have produced a variety of recommendations – some of which have become law – to change the way the U.S. military develops and buys new weapons systems. Yet the Department of Defense acquisition system continues to take longer and deliver less in quantity and capability while costs of modernization programs escalate. AIA has taken a hard look at what is causing this problem to develop this issue paper about what was disco...

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Easing the Burden: Reducing the cost of national security space capabilities

For more than five decades, our national security space assets have grown tremendously more capable and essential to our nation’s armed forces and national security decision makers. They are invaluable for keeping our military second to none. Unfortunately, the space sector – as the Pentagon noted in the 2011 National Security Space Strategy – is increasingly becoming congested, competitive and contested. Current American space capabilities will be increasingly difficult to sustain...

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