Reducing costs in aircraft: The metals affordability initiative consortium

Emerging metallic materials, processing, and manufacturing technologies offer an important opportunity to meet current aircraft-airframe and jet-engine affordability goals, due to their inherent low material costs and excellent producibility characteristics. But to successfully meet systems goals within this new affordability-driven scenario, a consolidation ofindustry and military-agency development resources and technology-implementation activities is necessary to positively impact the military-aircraft production and sustainment infrastructure. To address this need, a consortium of aircraft and engine manufacturers and key material-and engine manufacturers and key material-and component-supplier companies has been formed to identify critical affordable metal technologies, develop a strategic roadmap for accelerated development and insertion of these technologies, and oversee execution of development activities by integrated industry teams. the goal of the Metals Affordability Initiative is to reduce the cost of metallic components by 50 percent while accelerating the implementation time.