page_title: Air Force Research Laboratory
section_title: Air Vehicles Directorate
hierarchical_section_title: Air Force Research Laboratory / Organization / Air Vehicles Directorate
context_page_description: The Air Force Research Laboratory is a scientific research organization operated by the United States Air Force Materiel Command dedicated to leading the discovery, development, and integration of aerospace warfighting technologies, planning and executing the Air Force science and technology program, and providing warfighting capabilities to United States air, space, and cyberspace forces. It controls the entire Air Force science and technology research budget which was $2.4 billion in 2006.
  The Laboratory was formed at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio on 31 October 1997 as a consolidation of four Air Force laboratory facilities and the Air Force Office of Scientific Research under a unified command. The Laboratory is composed of eight technical directorates, one wing, and the Office of Scientific Research. Each technical directorate emphasizes a particular area of research within the AFRL mission which it specializes in performing experiments in conjunction with universities and contractors.
context_section_description: The Air Vehicles Directorate, located at Wright-Patterson AFB, has the mission of developing technologies that support cost-effective and survivable aerospace vehicles capable of accurate and quick delivery of a variety of future weapons or cargo anywhere. The current Director is Col Michael Hatfield.
  The Directorate has previously collaborated with NASA in the X-24 project to research concepts associated with lifting body type aircraft. The X-24 was one of a series of experimental aircraft, including the M2-F1, M2-F2, HL-10, and HL-20, by NASA and Air Force programs to develop the lifting body concept into maturity. The tests conducted during these programs led to the choice of an unpowered landing for the Space Shuttle program.
  In 2002, the Directorate initiated the X-53 Active Aeroelastic Wing program in cooperation with NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center and Boeing Phantom Works to research ways to make more efficient use of the wing surface during high-speed maneuvers.
  The Directorate is also a collaborator with DARPA, the U.S. Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center, Sandia National Laboratories and AFRL's Space Vehicles Directorate on the FALCON program, which includes the HTV-3X Blackswift hypersonic flight demonstration vehicle. The Air Vehicles Directorate also collaborated with NASA and Boeing on the initial work for the X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle and the 80% scaled version, X-40A Space Maneuver Vehicle, prior to the classification of the program and its transfer from NASA to DARPA in late 2004. The X-37 program is now managed by the Air Force Rapid Capabilities Office.
  Another recent project managed by the Air Vehicles Directorate is the Advanced Composite Cargo Aircraft program begun in 2007. This is an experimental, composite aircraft program with a goal of demonstrating the feasibility of the development of a cargo airframe constructed primary of light-weight composite materials. AFRL intends to gain X-plane designation for the program once flight tests begin.
  The US$250,000,000 VTHL Reusable Booster System program was initiated by the USAF in 2010.
  In 2012, the Air Vehicles Directorate merged with the Propulsion Directorate to become Aerospace Systems Directorate.
caption: Martin–Marietta X-24B
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