As aviation technology has advanced, the ability to defend a country’s air space has become increasingly important. RAND research has evaluated aircraft options and costs, defensive systems and strategies, deployment, and the importance of international partnerships in an effort to help the U.S. and allied air forces assess and enhance their ability to combat enemy air strikes — for national defense as well as in military operations around the globe.
REPORT
The Air Force is considering upgrades to the KC-10 in several areas: avionics, command and control, multipoint refueling, defensive systems, and compatibility with night-vision systems. An assessment of options to upgrade the KC-10 weighed the costs and potential benefits of the upgrades against demands in homeland defense, theater employment, deployment, and air bridge operations and KC-10 roles (refueling only, airlift only, or…
NEWS RELEASE
An exhaustive study of Chinese military sources reveals that a future Chinese air force campaign would, under most likely scenarios, seriously test the United States and its allies in a conflict.
REPORT
An exhaustive study of Chinese military sources reveals that a future Chinese air force campaign would, under most likely scenarios, seriously test the United States and its allies in a conflict.
REPORT
The U.S. Air Force works to build strong and enduring partnerships with allies and friendly nations, to reinforce their capacity to defend themselves and to work in coalitions, and to ensure U.S. access to foreign territories. This volume evaluates existing Air Force capacity to conduct assessments of its security cooperation programs and describes a framework for improving assessment efforts.
JOURNAL ARTICLE
Surveys the subject of air power as an area of research in international security studies and provides a bibliography of significant works and useful online resources.
REPORT
This report provides historical contextual information on the ages of aircraft designs operated by the Air Force. The authors find that, since the end of World War II, there has been a consistent trend for the Air Force to keep aircraft designs in operation for ever-longer periods. While the mean age of aircraft designs currently in operation is at an all-time high, this has been true throughout the history of the Air Force.
REPORT
The U.S. Air Force's KC-10 air refueling fleet has been in service for 25 years without a major avionics upgrade. Without modernization, the KC-10 will not be in compliance with upcoming air traffic management mandates regulating the minimum allowed communication, navigation, and surveillance capabilities.
REPORT
Although airpower capabilities have improved dramatically in the past decade, the joint warfighting potential offered by these capabilities is not being fully realized, as illustrated during combat operations in Afghanistan and Iraq. The authors propose several alternatives and suggest a new joint warfighting concept designed to enhance the prioritization and synchronization of joint fires and maneuver.
REPORT
The findings presented here reexamine capabilities-based programming by introducing a new definition of capability metrics and a new set of algorithms for building and evaluating programs. The tools provide the programmer with a means to quantitatively and reproducibly develop programming options in light of an uncertain future, serving as a means to express capabilities and risks of resource allocations in terms of national planning…
REPORT
When appropriate, the U.S. Air Force needs to be prepared to supply joint task force (JTF) headquarters. The authors discuss the theory and practice of JTFs, survey command-related developments in the Department of Defense, examine four JTF operations, and consider requirements for JTF headquarters. They use this analysis to develop recommendations to improve U.S. Air Force-led JTF headquarters.
REPORT
The U.S. Air Force and U.S. Navy have steadily developed exceptional cross-service harmony in their conduct of integrated strike operations since the first Persian Gulf War in 1991. That close harmony contrasts sharply with the situation that prevailed throughout most of the Cold War.
NEWS RELEASE
RAND Study Estimates Multiyear Purchase of F-22A Fighters Would Save Air Force Hundreds of Millions of Dollars, RAND Study Finds.
NEWS RELEASE
Addressing Sprawl Issues and Protecting Biodiversity Can Benefit Military Bases, RAND Study Finds.
REPORT
The terrorist attacks of 9/11 plunged the United States into a determined counteroffensive against Osama bin Laden and his al Qaeda terrorist network. This report details the initial U.S. military response to those attacks, namely, the destruction of al Qaeda’s terrorist infrastructure and the removal of the ruling Taliban regime in Afghanistan. The author emphasizes several distinctive achievements in this war, including the use of…
REPORT
This monograph presents findings of a RAND Project AIR FORCE research project documenting lessons learned by the U.S. Air Force (USAF) and other Department of Defense (DoD) cost analysis and acquisition community members from the implementation of evolutionary acquisition (EA) strategies for major Air Force defense space acquisition programs. In May 2003, DoD mandated EA strategies relying on spiral development as the preferred approach to…
RESEARCH BRIEF
This research brief looks at applications of U.S. air and ground power in post-Cold War operations and the implications of air power largely supplanting ground power in future deep operations.
RESEARCH BRIEF
This research brief describes work documented in Air Power Against Terror: America’s Conduct of Operation Enduring Freedom (MG-166-CENTAF).
REPORT
China's defense spending is estimated to be between 2.3 and 2.8 percent of the nation's GDP. This is 40 to 70 percent higher than official Chinese government figures, but substantially lower than previous outside estimates of the share of GDP devoted to defense.
REPORT
Operations in Afghanistan and Iraq have renewed interest in close air support and the integration of air and ground power. In particular situations, either might predominate, and their relationship is likely to shift over the course of a campaign. This report addresses three questions: (1) How should air attack and ground maneuver be integrated? (2) How should the terminal attack control function be executed? (3) How should ground…
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