From the 1950s through the 1990s, NASA led development of an engine system that could transition a vehicle from helicopter-like vertical flight for takeoffs and landings to conventional forward flight. NASA’s role in developing a nozzle design that could deflect thrust from the engines to change directions, called “thrust vectoring,” helped gain acceptance for the concept used on the AV-8 Harrier jet that flies in both U.S. and British military services.

Here, U.S. Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel speaks during a news conference with A MV-22 Osprey tilt rotor V/STOL aircraft in the background.