With relatively little fanfare, the laboratory directors of the USA's five aerospace giants have signed a landmark agreement giving each easy access to the others' laboratories - not for industrial espionage, but for research and development testing when time-critical projects overload one company's laboratory capacity.
It began as a search by Boeing Defense & Space Group for ways to make additional testing capacity available after it had cut its laboratories from 456 to 132 to save money. It could lead to an industry-wide consolidation of laboratory capacity - and another step toward making US industry more competitive through the elimination of over capacity and duplication.
With agreements such as the lab-directors' alliance, and US aircraft-manufacturers joining forces to help fund the next generation of NASA wind tunnels, there are increasing signs that the country's aerospace industry is undergoing a restructuring more fundamental than simply the consolidation of companies.
Source: Flight International
