Document Information
The U.S. Submarine Production Base
An Analysis of Cost, Schedule, and Risk for Selected Force Structures: Executive Summary
In January 1993, RAND’s National Defense Research Institute was asked by the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition to compare the practicality and cost of two approaches to future submarine production: (1) allowing production to shut down as currently programmed submarines are finished, then restarting it when more are needed, and (2) continuing low-rate production. The research was motivated by concerns that the submarine production base might not be easily reconstituted if production is shut down and by the countervailing recognition that deferring new submarine starts might yield substantial savings, particularly over the short term. This report is a summary of RAND’s analysis, the results obtained, and the associated uncertainties. The reader should bear in mind, of course, that in a summary such as this, completeness and precision are in some degree sacrificed to brevity. A full treatment of methods and results appears in MR-456-OSD.
See Also:
Free, downloadable PDF file(s) are available below.
RAND makes an electronic version of this document available for free as a public service.
Use Adobe Acrobat Reader version 7.0 or higher for the best experience.
Contents
Chapter One:
Background
Chapter Two:
How Long Can Production Be Suspended?
Chapter Three:
How Much Can Be Saved by Postponing Production?
Chapter Four:
What Are the Risks?
Chapter Five:
Conclusions and Recommendations
The research described in this report was sponsored by the Office of the Secretary of Defense under RAND’s National Defense Research Institute, a federally funded research and development center supported by the Office of the Secretary of Defense, the Joint Staff, and the defense agencies.
The monograph/report was a product of the RAND Corporation from 1993 to 2003. RAND monograph/reports presented major research findings that addressed the challenges facing the public and private sectors. They included executive summaries, technical documentation, and synthesis pieces.
Permission is given to duplicate this electronic document for personal use only, as long as it is unaltered and complete. Copies may not be duplicated for commercial purposes. Unauthorized posting of RAND PDFs to a non-RAND Web site is prohibited. RAND PDFs are protected under copyright law. For information on reprint and linking permissions, please visit the RAND Permissions page.
The RAND Corporation is a nonprofit research organization providing objective analysis and effective solutions that address the challenges facing the public and private sectors around the world. RAND's publications do not necessarily reflect the opinions of its research clients and sponsors.
Top
RAND® is a registered trademark. Copyright © 1994-2008 RAND Corporation. Last Modified: December 07, 2007 