reinforcing metal parts with composite materials in the Space Shuttle program, which led to the introduction of fibers to the bond layers. Thus, the concept of FMLs was born. Further research and co-operation of Fokker with Delft University, the Dutch aerospace laboratory NLR, 3M, Alcoa, and various other companies and institutions led to the first FML: the Aramid Reinforced ALuminum Laminates (ARALL), which combined aluminum with aramid fibers and was patented in 1981. This material had some cost, manufacturing, and application problems; while it had very high tensile strength, the material proved suboptimal in compressive strength, off-axis loading, and cyclic loading. These issues led to an improved version with glass fiber instead of aramid fibers. Over the course of the development of the material, which took more than 30 years from start to the major application on the Airbus A380, many other production and development partners have been involved, including Boeing, McDonnell Douglas, Bombardier, and the US Air Force. Over the course of time, companies withdrew from this involvement, sometimes to come back after a couple of years. For example, Alcoa departed in 1995, returned in 2004, and withdrew again in 2010. It is alleged that disagreements between some of these partners caused Boeing to remove Glare from the cargo floor of the Boeing 777 in 1993 (before the aircraft's service entry in 1995) and blocked Bombardier's plans to use Glare in its CSeries aircraft in 2005. These strategic decisions show the dynamic nature of innovation processes. Applications Glare has been most often applied in the aviation field. It forms part of the Airbus A380 fuselage and the leading edge of the tail surfaces. In 1995, an aircraft freight container made out of Glare became the first container certified by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) for blast resistance; the container can absorb and neutralize the explosion and fire from a bomb such as the one used in the Pan Am Flight 103 disaster over Lockerbie, Scotland in 1988. Glare has also been used in the front radome bulkhead of the Bombardier Learjet 45 business jet, which was first delivered in 1998. The material was used as a cargo liner solution for regional jets, in the lower skins of the flaps in the Lockheed Martin C-130J Super Hercules military transport aircraft, and in straps for the highest loaded frames in the Airbus A400M military transporter. Varieties and nomenclature There are six