Military Acquisition and Procurement

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Maintaining a military that is prepared to face uncertain future security challenges often requires the acquisition and procurement of new and technologically advanced equipment, which is a major expense for any nation. For decades, RAND has researched and evaluated military acquisition and procurement activities, providing essential recommendations to allow military decisionmakers to manage costs and streamline the acquisition process more effectively.

Research conducted by: RAND National Security Research Division; RAND Project AIR FORCE; RAND Arroyo Center; RAND Justice, Infrastructure, and Environment; RAND Europe

All Items (311)

Report

Measuring the Statutory and Regulatory Constraints on Department of Defense Acquisition: An Empirical Analysis — Jul 23, 2007

Contrary to widespread perceptions, program office personnel do not spend inordinate amounts of time on statutory and regulatory compliance activities.

News Release

RAND Study Estimates Multiyear Purchase of F-22A Fighters Would Save Air Force Hundreds of Millions of Dollars — Jun 29, 2007

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

Research Brief

Does Buying the F-22A Under A Multiyear Contract Save Money? — Jun 27, 2007

This research brief examines the savings to be gained from a multiyear procurement of three lots of F-22A fighters.

Report

How Funding Instability Affects Army Programs — Jun 27, 2007

Examined, through analyses and case studies, funding instability in Army acquisition programs to seek out its causes and effects, particularly its relationship to the adverse effects of program cost growth and schedule slippage.

Report

F-22A Multiyear Procurement Program: An Assessment of Cost Savings — Jun 25, 2007

Reviews the estimated savings to be gained from awarding multi-year contracts for 60 F-22A aircraft over three years.

News Release

RAND Study Assesses Whether Women-Owned Small Businesses Are Underrepresented in Federal Contracting — Apr 27, 2007

April 27, 2007 news release: RAND Study Assesses Whether Women-Owned Small Businesses Are Underrepresented in Federal Contracting.

Report

Implementing Purchasing and Supply Chain Management: Best Practices in Market Research — Dec 12, 2006

Provides background about market research and a summary of "how-to" guidance for U.S. Air Force commodity teams tasked with conducting market research in order to improve Air Force procurement by emulating commercial best practices.

Research Brief

Market Research Can Help the Air Force Maintain a High-Quality Supply Base — Dec 6, 2006

This research brief summarizes a "how-to" guide for U.S. Air Force commodity teams tasked with conducting market research in order to improve Air Force procurement by emulating commercial best practices.

Report

The F100 Engine Purchasing and Supply Chain Management Demonstration: Findings from Air Force Spend Analyses — Dec 6, 2006

Describes spend analyses drawn from a purchasing and supply management demonstration for purchases of F100 spare parts and repair services.

Report

Evolutionary Acquisition: Implementation Challenges for Defense Space Programs — Aug 16, 2006

This monograph presents findings of a RAND Project AIR FORCE research project documenting lessons learned from the implementation of evolutionary acquisition (EA) strategies on major Defense Department military space programs.

Research Brief

"Evolutionary Acquisition" Is a Promising Strategy, But Has Been Difficult to Implement — Aug 1, 2006

This research brief summarizes lessons learned from the implementation of evolutionary acquisition strategies on U.S. Department of Defense space programs.

Research Brief

Commercial Purchasing and Supply Management Practices Can Help the Air Force Reduce Costs — Jul 13, 2006

This research brief draws lessons from commercial practices that may be applicable to Air Force purchasing and supply management with an emphasis on a shift from tactical to strategic thinking and ensuring successful, permanent change.

Report

Historical Cost Growth of Completed Weapon System Programs — Jul 12, 2006

Our analysis shows that the Department of Defense (DoD) and the military departments have generally underestimated the cost of buying new weapon systems and that the growth is larger than previously thought.

Research Brief

New Techniques Help to Estimate Systems Engineering and Program Management Costs for Military Aircraft and Guided Weapons — May 30, 2006

This research brief summarizes trends in the cost of systems engineering and program management for military aircraft and guided weapon systems and factors driving those costs.

Report

Systems Engineering and Program Management: Trends and Costs for Aircraft and Guided Weapons Programs — May 26, 2006

Examines methods that cost analysts can use to estimate the systems engineering and program management cost element in the development and production of aircraft and weapons programs.

Report

Impossible Certainty: Cost Risk Analysis for Air Force Systems — May 1, 2006

Reviews ways of implementing cost uncertainty analysis to better understand the costs of future weapon systems.

Research Brief

Better Methods of Analyzing Cost Uncertainty Can Improve Acquisition Decisionmaking — Apr 26, 2006

This research brief looks at the Air Force's cost estimation process for weapon systems and reviews ways of implementing cost uncertainty analysis to better understand the costs of future weapon systems.

Report

Why Has The Cost of Navy Ships Risen? A Macroscopic Examination of the Trends in U.S. Naval Ship Costs Over the Past Several Decades — Apr 20, 2006

Examines why the increases in acquisition cost for U.S. naval ships have outpaced the rate of inflation over the past several decades.

Research Brief

Analysis of Alternatives for Recapitalizing the Air Force’s KC-135 Aerial Refueling Tanker — Mar 9, 2006

This research brief describes an analysis that assessed alternatives for recapitalization of the ageing KC-135 air tanker fleet.

Report

Analysis of Alternatives (AoA) for KC-135 Recapitalization: Executive Summary — Mar 6, 2006

Aerial refueling is critical to U.S. military and national security strategy; this analysis assessed alternatives for recapitalization of the ageing KC-135 fleet.

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