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The success of business jets like the Citation X, the fastest civil aircraft in use after the Concorde, highlights the need for speed to improve business and globalization. Currently, developing a supersonic business jet has many technical and economical impediments. These obstacles include sonic boom, emissions and noise requirements problems that are easily meet or do not exist for subsonic aircraft. A baseline aircraft, defined by an optimization process, is the starting point for this study. However, this baseline aircraft does not meet the sonic boom, emissions and noise requirements, which are very strict. Companion studies to this one indicate that it may be possible to meet emissions and noise requirements, but it is clear that technology infusion is necessary for the future viability of this aircraft concept to succeed.

The success of a modern, complex engineering program is inherently a dynamic economic exercise. Because of this it is not possible to fully grasp what decisions are important to the success of a program using only the typical static or “frozen” design methods and processes. This paper attempts to provide a basic understanding of these design processes and illustrate what they leave to be desired when used in a true market environment. Further, this paper illustrates a dynamic method using tools from engineering, management, and finance to overcome these weaknesses. The dynamic environment allows decision parameters and metrics to change, along with the potential for true competition. Furthermore, it allows the engineer to determine which design choices matter most to the creation of a successful program and how to make the most appropriate choices in the face of uncertainty.

Traditional historical-data based design processes are clearly inappropriate for morphing vehicles. There are no historical data for these type of configurations, the appropriate mission for this class of vehicles is unknown, and there are many unique aspects of a morphing vehicle that are dependent on the specific concept chosen. The design process proposed in this paper attempts to account for these difficulties in a flexible and transparent manner while leveraging existing tools and processes wherever possible.