An aerospace manufacturer is a company or individual involved in the various aspects of designing , building, testing, selling, and maintaining aircraft , aircraft parts , missiles , rockets , or spacecraft . Aerospace is a high technology industry.
81-647: McDonnell Douglas Corporation was a major American aerospace manufacturing corporation and defense contractor , formed by the merger of McDonnell Aircraft and the Douglas Aircraft Company in 1967. Between then and its own merger with Boeing in 1997, it produced well-known commercial and military aircraft, such as the DC-10 and the MD-80 airliners, the F-15 Eagle air superiority fighter , and
162-472: A day. This system had a major advantage compared to Polaris, as the aircraft could be sent radio instructions to retarget the missiles before launch. In theory, the bombers could be used as a second-strike weapon, attacking only those targets that had been missed in a first-strike, or alternately, being switched from counterforce to countervalue targets or vice versa. Ground-based systems like Atlas and Polaris lacked this ability, and could only be retargeted with
243-524: A fully laden aircraft capable of flying from Singapore to Paris , against strong headwinds during mid-winter ; the MD-11 did not have sufficient range for this at the time. Due to the less-than-expected performance figures, Singapore Airlines canceled its order for 20 MD-11s on August 2, 1991, and ordered 20 Airbus A340-300s instead. In 1992, McDonnell Douglas unveiled a study of a double deck jumbo-sized aircraft designated MD-12 . Despite briefly leaving
324-742: A major crisis, an emergency meeting between parties from the US and UK was called, leading to the Nassau agreement . Over the next few days a new plan was hammered out that saw the UK purchase the Polaris SLBM, but equipped with British warheads that lacked the dual-key system. The UK would thus retain its independent deterrent force, although its control passed from the RAF largely to the Royal Navy . The Polaris,
405-527: A major disagreement between the UK and US, known today as the " Skybolt Crisis ". This was resolved by a series of meetings that led to the Royal Navy gaining the UGM-27 Polaris missile and construction of the Resolution -class submarines to launch them. The US Air Force had built up an enormous fleet of strategic bombers during the 1950s, only to see them threatened by the possibility of
486-543: A major military fighter supply role. Douglas created a series of experimental high-speed jet aircraft in the Skyrocket family, with the Skyrocket DB-II being the first aircraft to travel at twice the speed of sound in 1953. Both companies were eager to enter the new missile business, Douglas moving from producing air-to-air rockets and missiles to entire missile systems under the 1956 Nike program and becoming
567-678: A military variant of the Douglas DC-3 , from 1942 to 1945. The workforce swelled to 160,000. Both companies suffered at the end of the war, facing an end of government orders and a surplus of aircraft. Douglas continued to develop new aircraft, including the DC-6 in 1946 and the DC-7 in 1953. The company moved into jet propulsion, producing the F3D Skyknight in 1948 and then the more "jet age" F4D Skyray in 1951. In 1955, Douglas introduced
648-674: A much better weapon system for the UK, was a major "scoop" and has been referred to as "almost the bargain of the century". The RAF kept a tactical nuclear capability with the WE.177 which armed V bombers and later the Panavia Tornado force. A B-52G launched the last XGAM-87A missile at the Atlantic Missile Range a day after the program was canceled. In June 1963, the XGAM-87A was redesignated as XAGM-48A. The GAM-87
729-617: A partnership with St. Louis pharmacy chain Medicare-Glaser Corp. to form Express Scripts to provide drugs for the Sanus HMO. McDonnell Douglas acquired Microdata Corporation in 1983. The division was spun out as a separate company, McDonnell Douglas Information Systems in 1993. The corporation also produced the Sovereign (later M7000) series of systems in the UK, which used the Sovereign operating system developed in
810-538: A pitch for such a jet with Boeing wings, but nothing came of any of the proposals. In 1999, Boeing completed the spin off of the civilian line of helicopters to form MD Helicopters , which was formerly part of McDonnell Douglas Helicopter Systems. Starting August 17, 2006, Boeing closed down the Long Beach factory as orders for the C-17 ceased. Some of the company's lasting legacies are non-aviation related. They are
891-471: A relatively accurate location in order to point their trackers at selected stars. Over a long flight, the INS would drift too much to provide the needed accuracy. Instead, the tracker has to be able to track the stars during flight, continually updating the INS. This change meant that the missile could only be carried in locations where the front of the missile could continually observe the sky. This had always been
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#1732772611883972-566: A significant amount of effort. Even the latest Air Force design, the LGM-30 Minuteman , required changes in targeting data to be loaded from magnetic tape in a process that took several weeks. WS-199 was generally successful, but the two ALBMs had a shorter range than desired. The Air Force tendered bids for a longer-range version in early 1959. Douglas Aircraft received the prime contract in May, and in turn subcontracted to Northrop for
1053-422: A similar alliance with either Embraer with its E-jet E2 or Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and its MRJ . On 21 December, Boeing and Embraer confirmed to be discussing a potential combination with a transaction subject to Brazilian government regulators, the companies' boards and shareholders approvals. The weight of Airbus and Boeing could help E2 and CSeries sales but the 100-150 seats market seems slow. As
1134-515: A special program to restore U.S. competitiveness across all U.S. industries, Project Socrates , contributed to employment growth as the U.S. aerospace industry captured 72 percent of world aerospace market. By 1999 U.S. share of the world market fell to 52 percent. In the European Union , aerospace companies such as Airbus , Safran , BAE Systems , Thales , Dassault , Saab AB , Terma A/S , Patria Plc and Leonardo are participants in
1215-602: A surprise attack by Soviet ICBMs . As the US bombers were located at only a small number of air bases, a relatively small fleet of missiles could attack all of them at once. The US had been developing its own ICBMs as well, but early models, like the SM-65 Atlas , required some time to prepare to launch from their surface launchers and were vulnerable to sneak air attack. A carefully timed attack from Soviet bombers against US missiles and their ICBMs against US bomber fields could inflict serious damage. The one weapon system that
1296-411: Is Japan ), strong transportation infrastructure (#5, #1 is Hong Kong ), a healthy economy (#10, #1 is China ), but high costs (#7, #1 is Denmark ) and average tax policy (#36, #1 is Qatar ). Following were Canada , Singapore , Switzerland and United Kingdom . Within the US, the most attractive was Washington state , due to the best Industry (#1), leading Infrastructure (#4, New Jersey
1377-403: Is #1) and Economy (#4, Texas is #1), good labor (#9, Massachusetts is #1), average tax policy (#17, Alaska is #1) but is costly (#33, Montana is #1). Washington is tied to Boeing Commercial Airplanes , earning $ 10.3 billion, is home to 1,400 aerospace-related businesses, and has the highest aerospace jobs concentration. Following are Texas, Georgia , Arizona and Colorado . In the US,
1458-516: Is based. Several consolidations took place in the aerospace and defense industries over the last few decades. Airbus prominently illustrated the European airliner manufacturing consolidation in the late 1960s. Between 1988 and 2010, more than 5,452 mergers and acquisitions with a total known-value of US$ 579 billion were announced worldwide. In 1993, then United States Secretary of Defense Les Aspin and his deputy William J. Perry held
1539-471: Is done pursuant to type certificates and Defense Standards issued by a government body. This term has been largely subsumed by the more encompassing term: " aerospace industry". In 2015 the aircraft production was worth US$ 180.3 billion: 61% airliners , 14% business and general aviation , 12% military aircraft , 10% military rotary wing and 3% civil rotary wing; while their MRO was worth $ 135.1 Bn or $ 315.4 Bn combined. The global aerospace industry
1620-481: Is the successor company to numerous British aircraft manufacturers which merged throughout the second half of the 20th century. Many of these mergers followed the 1957 Defence White Paper . Marconi Electronic Systems , a subsidiary of the General Electric Company plc , was acquired by British Aerospace for US$ 12.3 billion in 1999 merger, to form BAE Systems . In 2002, when Fairchild Dornier
1701-584: The A320 . Tier 1 consolidation also affects engine manufacturers : GE Aerospace acquired Avio in 2013 and Rolls-Royce took control of ITP Aero . Skybolt ALBM The Douglas GAM-87 Skybolt ( AGM-48 under the 1963 Tri-service system ) was a hypersonic air-launched ballistic missile (ALBM) developed by the United States during the late 1950s. The basic concept was to allow US strategic bombers to launch their weapons from well outside
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#17327726118831782-549: The Advanced Tactical Fighter and Joint Strike Fighter , severely hurt McDonnell Douglas. McDonnell Douglas built only a small wind tunnel test model. At its peak in mid-1990, McDonnell Douglas employed 132,500 people, but dropped to about 87,400 by the end of 1992. In 1991, the MD-11 was not quite a success; ongoing tests of the MD-11 revealed a significant shortfall in the aircraft's performance. An important prospective carrier, Singapore Airlines , required
1863-638: The Airbus A300 , but it never progressed to a prototype. Such an aircraft might have given McDonnell Douglas an early lead in the huge twinjet market that developed in the 1970s, as well as commonality with many of the DC-10's systems. In 1977, the next generation of DC-9 variants, dubbed the "Super 80" (later renamed the MD-80 ) series, was launched. In 1977, the KC-10 Extender became the second McDonnell Douglas transport aircraft to be purchased by
1944-510: The Airbus A380 , less than 100 major suppliers outsource 60% of its value, even 80% on the A350 . Boeing embraced an aggressive Tier 1 model for the 787 but with its difficulties began to question why it was earning lower margins than its suppliers while it seemed to take all the risk, ensuing its 2011 Partnering for Success initiative, as Airbus initiated its own Scope+ initiative for
2025-843: The Boeing 707 . McDonnell was also developing jets, but being smaller it was prepared to be more radical, building on its successful FH-1 Phantom to become a major supplier to the Navy with the F2H Banshee and F3H Demon ; and producing the F-101 Voodoo for the United States Air Force (USAF). The Korean War -era Banshee and later the F-4 Phantom II produced during the Vietnam War helped push McDonnell into
2106-578: The Bombardier Global Express pioneered the "Tier 1" supply chain model inspired by automotive industry , with 10-12 risk-sharing limited partners funding around half of the development costs. The Embraer E-Jet followed in the late 1990s with fewer than 40 primary suppliers. Tier 1 suppliers were led by Honeywell , Safran , Goodrich Corporation and Hamilton Sundstrand . In the 2000s, Rolls-Royce reduced its supplier count after bringing in automotive supply chain executives. On
2187-479: The CSeries partnership between Airbus and Bombardier Aerospace could trigger a daisy chain of reactions towards a new order. Airbus gets a new, efficient model at the lower end of the narrowbody market which provides the bulk of airliner profits and can abandon the slow selling A319 while Bombardier benefits from the growth in this expanded market even if it holds a smaller residual stake. Boeing could forge
2268-668: The Department of Defense and NASA are the two biggest consumers of aerospace technology and products. The Bureau of Labor Statistics of the United States reported that the aerospace industry employed 444,000 wage and salary jobs in 2004, many of which were in Washington and California, this marked a steep decline from the peak years during the Reagan Administration when total employment exceeded 1,000,000 aerospace industry workers. During that period of recovery
2349-861: The F/A-18 Hornet multirole fighter. The corporation's headquarters were at St. Louis Lambert International Airport , near St. Louis , Missouri . The company was formed from the firms of James Smith McDonnell and Donald Wills Douglas in 1967. Both men were of Scottish ancestry, were graduates of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology , and had worked for the aircraft manufacturer Glenn L. Martin Company . Douglas had been chief engineer at Martin before leaving to establish Davis-Douglas Company in early 1920 in Los Angeles. The following year, he bought out his backer and renamed
2430-508: The "Last Supper" at the Pentagon with contractors executives who were told that there were twice as many military suppliers as he wanted to see: $ 55 billion in military–industry mergers took place from 1992 to 1997, leaving mainly Boeing , Lockheed Martin , Northrop Grumman and Raytheon . Boeing bought McDonnell Douglas for US$ 13.3 billion in 1996. Raytheon acquired Hughes Aircraft Company for $ 9.5 billion in 1997. BAE Systems
2511-536: The 747, but ultimately the double deck concept would not see the light of day until the Airbus A380 in the 2000s. Following Boeing's 1996 acquisition of Rockwell 's North American division, McDonnell Douglas merged with Boeing in August 1997 in a US$ 13 billion stock swap , with Boeing as the surviving company. Boeing introduced a new corporate identity based on the McDonnell Douglas logo, which showed
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2592-481: The British Isles; they were well within the range of Soviet air strikes. The limited land mass available meant it would be relatively easy for missile sites to be spotted no matter what security measures were taken, and flying time for a jet bomber from the coast to any potential inland location would be on the order of minutes. This left the deterrent based on their own bomber force, the V bomber fleet, which
2673-698: The CSeries, renamed A220, and E-jet E2 are more capable than their predecessors, they moved closer to the lower end of the narrowbodies . In 2018, the four Western airframers combined into two within nine months as Boeing acquired 80% of Embraer's airliners for $ 3.8 billion on July 5. On April 3, 2020, Raytheon and United Technologies Corporation (except Otis Worldwide , leaving Rockwell Collins and engine maker Pratt and Whitney ) merged to form Raytheon Technologies Corporation , with combined sales of $ 79 billion in 2019. The most prominent unions between 1995 and 2020 include those of Boeing and McDonnell Douglas;
2754-822: The French, German and Spanish parts of EADS; and United Technologies with Rockwell Collins then Raytheon, but many mergers projects did not went through: Textron-Bombardier, EADS-BAE Systems, Hawker Beechcraft-Superior Aviation, GE-Honeywell, BAE Systems-Boeing (or Lockheed Martin), Dassault-Aerospatiale, Safran-Thales, BAE Systems-Rolls-Royce or Lockheed Martin–Northrop Grumman. The largest aerospace suppliers are United Technologies with $ 28.2 billion of revenue, followed by GE Aviation with $ 24.7 billion, Safran with $ 22.5 billion, Rolls-Royce Holdings with $ 16.9 billion, Honeywell Aerospace with $ 15.2 billion and Rockwell Collins including B/E Aerospace with $ 8.1 billion. Electric aircraft development could generate large changes for
2835-614: The McDonnell Douglas Corporation (MDC). Earlier, McDonnell bought 1.5 million shares of Douglas stock to help its partner meet "immediate financial requirements". The two companies seemed to be a good fit for each other. McDonnell's military contracts provided an instant solution for Douglas' cash flow problems, while the revenue from Douglas' civil contracts would be more than enough for McDonnell to withstand peacetime declines in procurement. McDonnell Douglas retained McDonnell Aircraft's headquarters location at what
2916-448: The RAF had already long concluded would be unable to penetrate Soviet defenses by about 1960. The RAF was in the process of introducing their own stand-off missile, the 950 kilometres (590 mi) ranged Mach 3 Blue Steel . While capable, the missile flew at altitudes and speeds that left it vulnerable to improving SAMs, and it had a number of reliability and serviceability issues that made it less than ideal. A faster, longer-ranged version
2997-716: The RAF. By agreement, British funding for research and development was limited to that required to modify the V bombers to take the missile, but the British were allowed to fit their own warheads. In exchange, the Americans were given nuclear submarine basing facilities in Scotland. Following the agreement, the Blue Streak program was formally canceled in April 1960 and in May 1960 an agreement for an initial order of 100 Skybolts
3078-611: The U.S. Air Force, after the C-9 Nightingale/Skytrain II . Through the Cold War , McDonnell Douglas had introduced and manufactured dozens of successful military aircraft, including the F-15 Eagle in 1974 and the F/A-18 Hornet in 1978, as well as other products such as the Harpoon and Tomahawk missiles . The oil crisis of the 1970s was a serious shock to the commercial aviation industry. McDonnell Douglas
3159-639: The U.S. Navy's first attack jet, the A4D Skyhawk . Designed to operate from the decks of the World War II Essex -class aircraft carriers , the Skyhawk was small, reliable, and tough. Variants of it continued in use in the Navy for almost 50 years, finally serving in large numbers in a two-seat version as a jet trainer. Douglas also made commercial jets, producing the DC-8 in 1958 to compete with
3240-493: The UK and which was not based on Pick , unlike the "Reality" family of systems listed above. Sovereign, largely a Data Entry solution, had a reasonable market in the United States supporting data entry shops. Aerospace manufacturer The aircraft industry is the industry supporting aviation by building aircraft and manufacturing aircraft parts for their maintenance . This includes aircraft and parts used for civil aviation and military aviation . Most production
3321-1130: The United States ( Boeing ), Montreal and Toronto in Canada ( Bombardier , Pratt & Whitney Canada ), Toulouse and Bordeaux in France ( Airbus , Dassault , ATR ), Seville in Spain and Hamburg in Germany ( Airbus ), the North-West of England and Bristol in Britain ( Airbus and AgustaWestland ), Komsomolsk-on-Amur and Irkutsk in Russia ( Sukhoi , Beriev ), Kyiv and Kharkiv in Ukraine ( Antonov ), Nagoya in Japan ( Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Aerospace and Kawasaki Heavy Industries Aerospace ), as well as São José dos Campos in Brazil where Embraer
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3402-599: The Vulcan. Testing started with unpowered drop tests to ensure safe separating from the launch aircraft. Powered tests started in April 1962, but the test series went badly, with the first five trials ending in failure. The first fully successful flight occurred on 19 December 1962. By this point, the value of the Skybolt system in the US had been seriously eroded. The Polaris had recently gone into service, with overall capabilities similar to Skybolt, but with "loiter" times on
3483-506: The aerospace suppliers. On 26 November 2018, United Technologies announced the completion of its Rockwell Collins acquisition, renaming systems supplier UTC Aerospace Systems as Collins Aerospace , for $ 23 billion of sales in 2017 and 70,000 employees, and $ 39.0 billion of sales in 2017 combined with engine manufacturer Pratt & Whitney . Before the 1980s/1990s, aircraft and aeroengine manufacturers were vertically integrated . Then Douglas aircraft outsourced large aerostructures and
3564-556: The case on the USAF's B-52 bombers, where they were carried under the narrow-chord wings and the nose projected out in front. But this presented a problem for some of the UK designs, especially the Victor , where the layout of the wing, engines and landing gear left the mounting point behind the massive wing's leading edge. As Valiant had limited range, the decision was made to move forward only with Vulcan , where its mounting points allowed
3645-554: The collapse of the A-12 program led to the layoff of 5,600 employees. The advanced tactical aircraft role vacated by the A-12 debacle would be filled by another McDonnell Douglas program, the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet . However the purchasing of aircraft was curtailed as the Cold War came to an abrupt end in the 1990s. This curtailment in military procurements combined with the loss of the contracts for two major projects,
3726-436: The company's St. Louis headquarters where he continued sales efforts on the DC-10 and managed the company as a whole as president and chief operating officer through 1971. The DC-10 began production in 1968 with the first deliveries in 1971. As early as 1966 and for decades thereafter, McDonnell Douglas considered building a twin-engined aircraft named the "DC-10 Twin" or DC-X. This would have been an early twinjet similar to
3807-525: The computer systems and companies developed in the company's subsidiary McDonnell Automation Company (McAuto) which was created in the 1950s initially used for numerical control for production starting in 1958 and computer-aided design (CAD) starting in 1959. Its CAD program MicroGDS remains in use with the latest official version 11.3 issued in June 2013. By the 1970s, McAuto had 3,500 employees and $ 170 million worth of computer equipment. This made it one of
3888-478: The concepts were two air-launched ballistic missiles, Bold Orion and High Virgo . These systems would give the Air Force a method somewhat similar to the Navy's; in times of high alert, the bomber force would be sent to holding positions far outside the range of any Soviet defenses, and then launch their missiles on command. Using aerial refueling , a bomber might be expected to be able to loiter for as long as
3969-478: The contract's termination: the government claimed that the contractors had defaulted on the contract and were not entitled to the final progress payments, while McDonnell Douglas and General Dynamics believed that the contract was terminated out of convenience, and thus the money was owed. The case was contested through litigation until a settlement was reached in January 2014. The chaos and financial stress created by
4050-525: The design added a star tracker in addition to its inertial navigation system (INS) this meant that it could only be carried externally where the tracker could see the sky. This requirement along with the required ground clearance on takeoff limited it to the Avro Vulcan bomber. Several design decisions in the W47 led the RAF to question its safety, so they intended to use their own Red Snow warheads. This
4131-624: The firm the Douglas Aircraft Company . McDonnell founded J.S. McDonnell & Associates in Milwaukee , Wisconsin, in 1926 to produce a personal aircraft for family use. The economic depression from 1929 ruined his ideas and the company collapsed. He worked at three companies, joining Glenn Martin Company in 1933. He left Martin in 1938 to try again with his own firm, McDonnell Aircraft Corporation , this time based at Lambert Field , outside St. Louis, Missouri . Douglas Aircraft profited during World War II . The company produced about 10,000 C-47s,
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#17327726118834212-425: The functional setup where engineers with specific expertise in aerodynamics, structural mechanics, materials, and other technical areas worked on several different aircraft. This was replaced by a product-oriented system where they focus on one specific airplane. As part of reorganization, 5,000 managerial and supervisory positions were eliminated at Douglas. The former managers could apply for 2,800 newly created posts;
4293-444: The global aerospace industry and research effort. In Russia , large aerospace companies like Oboronprom and the United Aircraft Corporation (encompassing Mikoyan , Sukhoi , Ilyushin , Tupolev , Yakovlev , and Irkut , which includes Beriev ) are among the major global players in this industry. Important locations of the civil aerospace industry worldwide include Seattle , Wichita, Kansas , Dayton, Ohio and St. Louis in
4374-419: The globe being encircled in tribute to the first aerial circumnavigation which was accomplished in 1924 by Douglas aircraft. It was designed by graphic designer Rick Eiber, who had been the corporate identity consultant for Boeing over ten years. Between 1993 and just after the merger in 1997, McDonnell Douglas performed studies on the feasibility of a twin-engine jet using MD-11 components, and ultimately made
4455-483: The guidance system, Aerojet for the propulsion system, and General Electric for the reentry vehicle. The system was initially known as WS-138A and was given the official name GAM-87 Skybolt in 1960. At the same time, the Royal Air Force (RAF) was having problems with their MRBM missile project, the Blue Streak , which was long overdue. Even if this was successful it faced the serious problem of basing. No fixed land-based missile system could be credibly installed in
4536-488: The largest computer processors in the world during this era. In 1981, McAuto acquired Bradford Systems and Administrative Services for $ 11.5 million and began processing medical claims. In 1983, two principals of Bradford who had to come work at McAuto—Joseph T. Lynaugh and Howard L. Waltman—formed the Sanus Corporation, a health maintenance organization that was a wholly owned subsidiary of McDonnell Douglas. In 1986, after McDonnell Douglas reduced its control, Sanus announced
4617-512: The largest industrial bases in 2017 were the United States with $ 408.4 billion (representing 49% of the whole), followed by France with $ 69 billion (8.2%), then China with $ 61.2 billion (7.3%), the United Kingdom with $ 48.8 billion (5.8%), Germany with $ 46.2 billion (5.5%), Russia with $ 27.1 billion (3.2%), Canada with $ 24 billion (2.9%), Japan with $ 21 billion (2.5%), Spain with $ 14 billion (1.7%) and India with $ 11 billion (1.3%). These ten countries represent $ 731 billion or 87.2% of
4698-497: The main contractor of the Skybolt ALBM program and the Thor ballistic missile program. McDonnell made a number of missiles, including the unusual ADM-20 Quail , as well as experimenting with hypersonic flight, research that enabled it to gain a substantial share of the NASA projects Mercury and Gemini . Douglas also gained contracts from NASA, notably for part of the enormous Saturn V rocket. The two companies were now major employers, but both were having problems. McDonnell
4779-455: The main landing gear. During development, it was decided that the system could not reach the required accuracy at the desired range without improvements to the guidance system. This led to the introduction of a star tracker platform that would enhance the existing inertial navigation system . For this role, the system had to be capable of tracking bright stars in direct sunlight, a challenging requirement. Star trackers have to be provided with
4860-437: The market, the study was perceived as merely a public relations exercise to disguise the fact that MDC was struggling under intense pressure from Boeing and Airbus . It was clear to most in the industry that MDC had neither the resources nor the money to develop such a large aircraft, and the study quickly sank without a trace. A similar double deck concept was used in Boeing's later Ultra-Large Aircraft study intended to replace
4941-409: The nose of the missile to project in front of this aircraft's delta wing . By 1961, several test articles were ready for testing from B-52s, with drop tests starting in January. In January 1961 a Vulcan visited the Douglas plant at Santa Monica, California, to ensure the modifications to the aircraft were electrically compatible with the missile. In Britain, compatibility trials with mockups started on
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#17327726118835022-547: The order of months instead of hours. The US Air Force was well into the process of developing the Minuteman missile , whose improved accuracy reduced the need for any bomber attacks. Robert McNamara was particularly opposed to the bomber force and repeatedly stated he felt that the combination of SLBMs and ICBMs would render them useless. He pressed for the cancellation of Skybolt as unnecessary. The British had canceled all other projects to concentrate fully on Skybolt. When McNamara informed them that they were considering canceling
5103-409: The program in November 1962, a firestorm of protest broke out in the House of Commons. Jo Grimond noted "Does not this mark the absolute failure of the policy of the independent deterrent? Is it not the case that everybody else in the world knew this, except the Conservative Party in this country?" President Kennedy officially cancelled the program on 22 December 1962. As the political row grew into
5184-402: The range of Soviet defenses, as much as 1,000 miles (1,600 km) from their targets. To do this in an air-launched form, a lightweight thermonuclear warhead was needed. Initially, the W47 from the Polaris missile was selected, but it was later replaced by the W59 from the Minuteman missile . The UK joined the Skybolt program in 1960, intending to use it on their V bomber force. When
5265-515: The remaining 2,200 would lose their managerial responsibilities. The reorganization reportedly led to widespread loss of morale at the company and TQMS was nicknamed "Time to Quit and Move to Seattle" by employees referring to the competitor Boeing headquartered in Seattle, Washington. Technical issues, development cost overruns, growing unit costs, and delays led to the termination of the A-12 Avenger II program on January 13, 1991, by Defense Secretary Dick Cheney . Years of litigation would proceed over
5346-430: The time of the merger, Douglas Aircraft was estimated to be less than a year from bankruptcy. Flush with orders, the DC-8 and DC-9 aircraft were 9 to 18 months behind schedule, incurring stiff penalties from the airlines. Lewis was active in DC-10 sales in an intense competition with Lockheed's L-1011 , a rival tri-jet aircraft. In two years, Lewis had the operation back on track and in positive cash flow. He returned to
5427-459: The whole industry. In 2018, the new commercial aircraft value is projected for $ 270.4 billion while business aircraft will amount for $ 18 billion and civil helicopters for $ 4 billion. In September 2018, PwC ranked aerospace manufacturing attractiveness: the most attractive country was the United States , with $ 240 billion in sales in 2017, due to the sheer size of the industry (#1) and educated workforce (#1), low geopolitical risk (#4, #1
5508-500: Was bankrupt , Airbus, Boeing or Bombardier declined to take the 728JET /928JET large regional jet program as mainline and regional aircraft manufacturers were split and Airbus was digesting its ill-fated Fokker acquisition a decade earlier. On September 4, 2017, United Technologies acquired Rockwell Collins in cash and stock for $ 23 billion, $ 30 billion including Rockwell Collins' net debt, for $ 500+ million of synergies expected by year four. The Oct. 16, 2017 announcement of
5589-510: Was a heavier warhead and would reduce the range to about 600 miles (970 km), meaning the bombers would have to cross the Soviet coastline to attack Moscow . Testing began in 1962 and was initially marked by a string of failures. These failures, along with a lack of mission after the successful development of submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs), led to its cancellation in December 1962. The UK had decided to base its entire 1960s deterrent force on Skybolt, and its cancellation led to
5670-460: Was a stretched version of the MD-80, powered by International Aero Engines V2500 turbofans, the largest rear-mounted engines ever used on a commercial jet. The MD-95 , a modern regional airliner closely resembling the DC-9-30, was the last McDonnell Douglas designed commercial jet to be produced. On January 13, 1988, McDonnell Douglas and General Dynamics won the US Navy Advanced Tactical Aircraft (ATA) contract. The US$ 4.83 billion contract
5751-425: Was being talked about, Blue Steel II, but it would be some time before it could enter service. The long-range Skybolt would eliminate the need for both the Blue Streak and the Blue Steel II. Blue Steel II was canceled in December 1959 and the British Cabinet decided in February 1960 to cancel Blue Streak as well. Prime Minister Macmillan met President Eisenhower in March 1960 and agreed to purchase 144 Skybolts for
5832-588: Was concluded. Avro was made an associate contractor to manage the Skybolt program for the United Kingdom and four different schemes were submitted to find a platform for the missile. A number of different aircraft were considered, including a variant of the Vickers VC10 airliner and two of the current V bombers, the Avro Vulcan and Handley Page Victor . It was decided to use the Vulcan to initially carry two missiles each on hardpoints outboard of
5913-504: Was hit by the economic shift and forced to contract while diversifying into new areas to protect against more downturns. In 1984, McDonnell Douglas expanded into helicopters by purchasing Hughes Helicopters from the Summa Corporation for $ 470 million. Hughes Helicopters was made a subsidiary initially and renamed McDonnell Douglas Helicopter Systems in August 1984. McDonnell Douglas Helicopters's most successful product
5994-534: Was more worrying to the Air Force than the Soviet arsenal and generated a number of internal reports on how to deal with this threat to their dominance in the strategic field. In response, in 1957 the Air Force began studying solutions to the "Puzzle of Polaris" under the WS-199 program. WS-199 was a grab-bag effort, studying anything that might improve the survivability of the Air Force strike capability. Primary among
6075-547: Was not open to attack was the US Navy 's Polaris missile system. The Polaris equipped submarines could cruise in large areas of the Atlantic or Pacific where the Soviet fleet was unable to find them, and launch their missiles with impunity. If the goal of the nuclear force was to maintain deterrence by ensuring that a counterstrike would be launched, Polaris met this goal in a way the existing Air Force fleet could not. This fact
6156-403: Was powered by a two-stage solid-fuel rocket motor. The missile was fitted with a tailcone to reduce drag while on the pylon, which was ejected shortly after being dropped from the plane. After first stage burnout, the Skybolt coasted for a while before the second stage ignited. First stage control was by eight movable tail fins, while the second stage was equipped with a gimballed nozzle. Guidance
6237-487: Was primarily a defense contractor, without any significant civilian business. It frequently suffered lean times during downturns in military procurement. Meanwhile, Douglas was strained by the cost of the DC-8 and DC-9 . The two companies began to sound each other out about a merger in 1963. Douglas offered bid invitations from December 1966 and accepted that of McDonnell. The two firms were officially merged on April 28, 1967, as
6318-568: Was the Hughes-designed AH-64 Apache attack helicopter. In 1986, the MD-11 was introduced, an improved and upgraded version of the DC-10. The MD-11 was the most advanced trijet aircraft to be developed. Since 1990 it sold 200 units, but was discontinued in 2001 after the merger with Boeing as it competed with the Boeing 777 . The final commercial aircraft design to be produced by McDonnell Douglas came in 1988. The MD-90
6399-481: Was then known as Lambert–St. Louis International Airport , in Berkeley, Missouri , near St. Louis . James McDonnell became executive chairman and CEO of the merged company, with Donald Douglas Sr. as honorary chairman. In 1967, with the merger of McDonnell and Douglas Aircraft, David S. Lewis , then president of McDonnell Aircraft, was named chairman of what was called the Long Beach, Douglas Aircraft Division. At
6480-691: Was to develop the A-12 Avenger II , a stealth, carrier-based, long-range flying wing attack aircraft that would replace the A-6 Intruder . In January 1989, Robert Hood, Jr was appointed president to lead the Douglas Aircraft Division, replacing retiring President Jim Worsham. McDonnell Douglas then introduced a major reorganization called the Total Quality Management System (TQMS). TQMS ended
6561-422: Was worth $ 838.5 billion in 2017: aircraft & engine OEMs represented 28% ($ 235 Bn), civil & military MRO & upgrades 27% ($ 226 Bn), aircraft systems & component manufacturing 26% ($ 218 Bn), satellites & space 7% ($ 59 Bn), missiles & UAVs 5% ($ 42 Bn) and other activity, including flight simulators , defense electronics, public research accounted for 7% ($ 59 Bn). The Top 10 countries with
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