AEROSPACE INDUSTRY

complex of manufacturing concerns engaged in the production of components and the assembly of vehicles intended for flight either within or beyond the Earth's atmosphere. These include unpowered gliders and sailplanes, lighter-than-air craft, ground-effect machines, heavier-than-air craft of both fixed-wing and rotary-wing varieties, military missiles, space-launch vehicles, and manned or unmanned spacecraft; propulsion systems and other thrusting devices; on-board equipment essential to the design purpose of the flight vehicle; and ground-based support equipment needed for the operation and maintenance of the flight vehicle. An additional area, one that is expanding rapidly, is the fabrication of nonaerospace products and systems that have been derived from aerospace technology. The aerospace industry, which of necessity devotes a considerable portion of its effort to research and development in the broadening realm of flight, is a leader of world technological advance. Despite the lack of reliable statistical detail from certain countries, it would appear that the aerospace industry is one of the world's largest manufacturing industries in terms of employment and the monetary value of product output. The world's greatest aerospace industrial complex is that of the United States. Russia, France, and the United Kingdom, as well as the European Space Agency (ESA; see below), also have achieved a high degree of aerospace sophistication and have the ability to manufacture home-designed systems embracing the entire range of aerospace vehicles. Japan, whose aircraft industry was completely destroyed in World War II, did not resume production activity until 1952; it expanded rapidly thereafter, manufacturing few home-designed products but relying for the most part on U.S. licenses. Canada has a relatively small but advanced industry. Germany has little aerospace production capacity but has developed a strong research and development base. China had been building aircraft of Soviet design since the early 1950s and by the 1970s was manufacturing home-designed aircraft; its demonstrated ability to launch space satellites indicated an advancing technology in other aerospace areas. Sweden's aerospace industry has been very small, but the national policy of selective specialization has brought about a high degree of competence in a narrow focus of effort. All told, about 30 nations engage in some form of aerospace production activity, for the most part the manufacture of light and medium aircraft of home design or production of heavier aircraft and propulsion systems under license from major-nation companies. For the major aerospace nations of the world, their own governments and in some cases other governments constitute by far the largest customer. Next in importance as buyers are the world's commercial airlines, a market dominated by the United States since World War II, although the French and British have a large share. Many general-aviation aircraft, private, business, and nonairline commercial planes are produced, but these aircraft are much less costly than jetliners; as a result, the sale of general-aviation equipment represents a small part of the overall volume. In the United States, nonaerospace systems, primarily for state and municipal governments, utilities, surface-transportation companies, hospitals, and other segments of the medical community, represent a significant portion of total sales. Additional reading The Illustrated Encyclopaedia of Aviation and Space, 14 vol. (1971), a general source written in layman's language; David Mondey, The Complete Illustrated Encyclopedia of the World's Aircraft (1978), includes an international guide to aircraft manufacturers; H. Guyford Stever and James J. Haggerty, Flight (1973), a general treatise on aviation for the layman; Charles H. Gibbs-Smith, The Aeroplane (1960), the best source for historical aerospace data; F. Alexander Magoun and Erie Hodgins, A History of Aircraft (1931), an excellent source for early aviation history; Walter T. Bonney, The American Heritage History of Flight, ed. by Alvin M. Josephy (1962), a general historical work; Charles D. Bright, The Jet Makers: The Aerospace Industry from 1945-1972 (1978), an account of the aerospace industry in the United States since World War II; Jane's All the World's Aircraft (annual), the best reference work for aircraft production data on types produced, including space vehicles and missiles; Aerospace Yearbook (annual, 1919-70), the standard reference work on the aerospace industry in the United States.