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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 04 July 2016
This article attempts to look forward in the field ofaircraft structures, at what is likely to happen,and what current R&D is necessary to achievethis. It becomes clear that structural performanceis always improving but that the main drivers arelikely to be cost, both capital cost and in-servicecosts. The capital cost is likely to improve byreducing the design and development time as well aslow-cost manufacturing. The use of all components ofthe synthetic environment are here playing anincreasing role. The in-service costs will bereduced by more robust structures and better NDE toautomate inspections and lengthen theirintervals.