Flying High With R&D Tax Credits in the Aerospace Industry

The aerospace industry is involved in a wide range of activities that could qualify for R&D tax credits. These include:

• Developing new or improved manufacturing processes to increase output, improve performance or reduce waste
• Creating tooling, dies and fixtures for new or improved production processes
• Developing methods to reduce production costs and product weight
• Creating new or improved aircraft, aerospace and weaponry components for customers
• Designing new aircraft components with exacting specifications or narrow tolerances
• Sequencing and re-sequencing manufacturing operations
• Creating prototypes and first articles to validate design and performance, including conducting quality control to test new iterations
• Developing new machines, fixtures, jigs and tools to manufacture and assemble aircraft
• Creating new composite materials
• Performing secondary operations, such as surface treatment of metals
• Developing new or improved metal forming, welding and machining techniques
• Improving communication, navigation, lighting and in-flight entertainment systems in commercial planes
• Designing or creating kits to integrate new monuments, galleys, seats or in-flight entertainment systems
• Developing new heat-treatment profiles and procedures
• Creating new automated processes
• Developing software programs to automate production equipment
• Improving aircraft simulators and cockpit software
• Making modifications to comply with regulations, such as testing new equipment
• Conducting metallurgical, tensile and gate freeze studies for evaluating products and components
• Improving aircraft designs to reduce drag (for example, engineering narrower wings, smoothing the surface or developing improved materials)
• Developing new unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs)