**1. Introduction**

A historical perspective provides an understanding of how the current stateof-practice for composite fuselage manufacturing has evolved. It also provides insight into what the future state of composite fuselage manufacturing might look like. **Figure 1** shows a familiar graph that shows the increase in composites usage in military and commercial aircraft over time. Initial applications of carbon fiber

**Figure 1.** *Composites usage.*

reinforced composites (CFRP) in both commercial and military aircraft were limited mostly to non-structural applications such as fairings and flight control surfaces. Structural applications for military aircraft began to appear in the 1980s as composite usage grew to more than 20% of the weight of the structure. As the industry continued to mature, material and processes became better understood and cost effectiveness improved to the level that commercial aircraft manufacturers incorporated the technology into the latest generation of wide body and other new aircraft.
