|
|
Battle of the X-Planes
|
|
|
|
Program Overview
|
|
|
NOVA takes you behind the scenes of an intense five-year competition
between Boeing and Lockheed Martin to see who will produce a single
airplane design—the Joint Strike Fighter—to meet the
needs of three U.S. armed forces: the Air Force, Navy, and Marine
Corps.
The program:
-
explains the requirements of the Joint Strike Fighter: a
low-cost, adaptable design featuring stealth and vertical
take-off and landing capabilities.
-
presents the stakes of the competition: a $200 billion contract
and the future of fighter aircraft design for the next few
decades.
-
focuses on the most demanding engineering challenge: building a
practical vertical take-off and landing system.
-
dramatizes the design and manufacturing process of the four
demonstration airplanes.
-
demonstrates how much of the design is worked out before
assembly with the aid of computers and flight simulators.
-
shows how two very different designs can meet the same criteria.
-
reveals the rigorous flight testing procedure used for the
demonstration airplanes.
-
presents the government's evaluation process for choosing the
winning design.
|
|
