2012-05-24T14:37:28Z Copyright (c) 2012, The RAND Corporation RAND Corporation http://www.rand.org/topics/air-defense.html http://www.rand.org/pubs/technical_reports/TR901.html Feb 25, 2011 Feb 25, 2011

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 dual-role).

http://www.rand.org/news/press/2011/02/21/index1.html Feb 21, 2011 Feb 21, 2011

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.

http://www.rand.org/pubs/monographs/MG915.html Feb 18, 2011 Feb 18, 2011

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.

http://www.rand.org/pubs/technical_reports/TR907.html Dec 17, 2010 Dec 17, 2010

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.

http://www.rand.org/pubs/reprints/RP1412.html Aug 4, 2010 Aug 4, 2010

<p>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.</p>

http://www.rand.org/pubs/technical_reports/TR740.html Nov 23, 2009 Nov 23, 2009

<p>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.</p>

http://www.rand.org/pubs/monographs/MG901.html Oct 31, 2009 Oct 31, 2009

<p>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.</p>

http://www.rand.org/pubs/monographs/MG793.html Apr 13, 2009 Apr 13, 2009

<p>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. </p>

http://www.rand.org/pubs/monographs/MG815.html Apr 1, 2009 Apr 1, 2009

<p>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 objectives.</p>

http://www.rand.org/pubs/monographs/MG777.html Jan 29, 2009 Jan 29, 2009

<p>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.</p>

http://www.rand.org/pubs/monographs/MG655.html Dec 27, 2007 Dec 27, 2007

<p>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. </p>

http://www.rand.org/news/press/2007/06/29.html Jun 29, 2007 Jun 29, 2007

RAND Study Estimates Multiyear Purchase of F-22A Fighters Would Save Air Force Hundreds of Millions of Dollars, RAND Study Finds.

http://www.rand.org/news/press/2007/06/28.html Jun 28, 2007 Jun 28, 2007

Addressing Sprawl Issues and Protecting Biodiversity Can Benefit Military Bases, RAND Study Finds.

http://www.rand.org/pubs/monographs/MG166-1.html Nov 7, 2006 Nov 7, 2006

<p>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&rsquo;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 precision air-delivered weapons that were effective irrespective of weather, the first combat use of Predator unmanned aerial vehicles armed with Hellfire missiles, and the integrated employment of high-altitude drones and other air- and space-based sensors that gave CENTCOM unprecedented round-the-clock awareness of enemy activity.</p>

http://www.rand.org/pubs/monographs/MG431.html Aug 16, 2006 Aug 16, 2006

<p>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 satisfying operational needs.</p>

http://www.rand.org/pubs/research_briefs/RB195.html Jul 26, 2006 Jul 26, 2006

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.

http://www.rand.org/pubs/research_briefs/RB9148.html Dec 12, 2005 Dec 12, 2005

This research brief describes work documented in Air Power Against Terror: America&rsquo;s Conduct of Operation Enduring Freedom (MG-166-CENTAF).

http://www.rand.org/pubs/research_briefs/RB170.html Nov 25, 2005 Nov 25, 2005

http://www.rand.org/pubs/monographs/MG260-1.html May 19, 2005 May 19, 2005

<p>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.</p>

http://www.rand.org/pubs/monographs/MG301.html Feb 28, 2005 Feb 28, 2005

<p>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 maneuver/fires and air attack be deconflicted? It recommends that the Army and the Air Force work together to develop new concepts and technologies to improve the partnering of air and ground. It recommends new processes to effectively designate targets and improved control mechanisms to exploit the benefits of the digital battlefield.</p>