Military Aircraft Market Research

Abstract

The role of market research, as applied to the military side of the aircraft industry, is beset by various difficulties, but before discussing these it is essential to consider the reasons for which it should play an important part among the management tools of the industry. In other words, why market research? Too often the term is applied to desperate attempts to find a market of some sort for an aircraft built for the British Services, at a time when production for home consumption is coming to an end. Too often the answer has been “no good”, generally for one of two reasons. Either the aircraft, as initially conceived for the RAF or Royal Navy, has been too sophisticated and hence too expensive for foreign Air Forces, or else the British re-equipment cycle has been out of phase with the rest of the world. There is a widespread belief among people who should know better, that there is a mystique about selling military aircraft. It is true that it is not easy, but the basic conditions for a sale are similar to those for any product, i.e. that the product should meet the demands of the customer in terms of requirement and timescale.