An effective structural health management system can be a useful tool in making aircraft management decisions ranging from aircraft maintenance scheduling and usage restrictions to fleet rotation strategies. A structural health management system requires several elements to be effective. Obviously, reliable sensor systems are necessary to monitor and characterize the condition of the structure. In addition, methods for interpreting sensor data and converting it into useable information in a consistently fast and reliable manner are also essential. This requires robust, automated methods for data processing, erroneous data detection, data archiving, and information dissemination. A high degree of process automation is required to promote rapid results turnaround. Without these attributes, structural health management systems are less effective and lose their value to the end-user. This presentation will discuss current research efforts in the area of structural health monitoring sensor development. It will also discuss requirements for integrating sensor systems, data processing tools, data quality assurance methods, and process automation into a structural health management system. All of these technology areas need to be matured and integrated into an overall vehicle health management system that can be incorporated into the customer’s operation and maintenance infrastructure.