Technology for jet engines: Case study in science and technology development

Large jet engine research and development in the United States from the 1960s; through the establishment of the Integrated High Performance Turbine Engine Technology Program in the late 1980s and the role of development in advancing fielded airbreathing propulsion capabilities are examined. The focus is on science and technology management principles employed during that period and how they impacted the process by which technologies were introduced into production aircraft. Literature on the history of aircraft engine development through the 1980s was researched, and a number of current and retired personnel from U.S. government organizations and large engine companies who were active during the period were interviewed. The positive results of small focused teams with minimal oversight and strong leadership are shown. Programs also benefited from technically competent government managers with long job tenures, joint programs between government agencies, and personal, trust-based relationships between government and industry. The Integrated High Performance Turbine Engine Technology Program is shown to be an aggressive evolutionary technology development program with many attributes that have been copied by other science and technology management efforts.