AbstractThe fracture and fatigue behavior of refractory metal silicide alloys/composites is significantly affected by the mechanical behavior of the refractory metal phase. This paper reviews some of the balance of properties obtained in the alloys/composites based on the Nb-Si system. Since some of the alloy/composite properties are dominated by the behavior of the refractory metal phase, the paper begins with a review of data on monolithic Nb and its alloys. This is followed by presentation of results obtained on Nb-Si alloys/composites and a comparison to behavior of some other high temperature systems.