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This thesis explores the political and economic factors that were present when the TFX aircraft contract was awarded. The primary sources used in the study area The official transcript of the Senate investigation of the TFX and the financial reports of the two main competitors, Boeing and General Dynamics.The thesis traces the Air Force's and Navy's roles in picking a contractor and the reasons given by the Secretary of Defense for going against the service's advice. The paper explores these reasons and attempts to show their inadequacy. The thesis then shows that economic considerations played a large role in the decision and that Congress was powerless to stop the administration without ending the whole project. Some suggestions for changing Congressional control over large military contracts to more effectively monitor spending are made at the conclusion of the paper.

Since the beginning of the history of aviation, the use of aircraft for military purposes revealed an efficient and dangerous weapon in the arsenal of a State. First it was used as observatory post, and then the aircraft took a more active role in combat until it became a destructive and deadly weapon. The definition of military aircraft in international law is not clear as States only wish to regulate international civil air navigation and not state aircraft. On the other hand, the Law of armed conflict defines the status of every aircraft with their respective duties and rights in the conduct of hostilities. The interception of civil aircraft by military aircraft shall be done in accordance with the international standards adopted by the International Civil Aviation Organization in virtue of the Chicago Convention and it's limited to determine the identity of the aircraft. The use of deadly force against civilian aircraft in flight is equivalent of pronouncing the death sentence of its occupants without the hearing of a trial. Respecting the international standards of interception of civil aircraft is a necessity.