This report describes an aircraft database which was developed to identify technology trends for several classes of tactical naval aircraft, including subsonic attack, supersonic fighter, and supersonic multimission aircraft classes. This study used an approach that was internally consistent among designs, whereas most comparative studies require "normalizing" aircraft that are developed by different design groups using different methods and databases. All aircraft were evaluated in two technology timeframes and were sized with consistent methods which allow the aircraft to be directly compared in operational utility or cost analysis trends. The multimission aircraft were compared to evaluate the effect of technology and mission requirements. This comparison highlights the effect of changing technology and mission requirements on the Short Takeoff and Vertical Landing (STOVL) aircraft and addresses the impact of aircraft navalization. The subsonic attack aircraft evaluation compared flying wing to conventional designs, one- versus two-place crew, two versus four bombs, and internal versus external weapon carriage.

A-961330;NASA Technical Memorandum 110388