Military Acquisition and Procurement

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)

Commentary

Grappling with the Sequester: Q&A with Charles Nemfakos — Mar 20, 2013

pentagon-aerial-view

Will any good come out of the Pentagon's sequester-mandated spending cuts? If nothing else, it will drive folks to think the unthinkable, says Charles Nemfakos.

Report

Portfolio Optimization by Means of Multiple Tandem Certainty-Uncertainty Searches: A Technical Description — Mar 15, 2013

This paper describes a new approach and associated search schemes for optimization under uncertainty. Analysts can apply this method to a problem with a significantly larger number of decision variables, uncertain parameters, and uncertain scenarios.

Report

Reducing Long-Term Costs While Preserving a Robust Strategic Airlift Fleet: Options for the Current Fleet and Next-Generation Aircraft — Jan 31, 2013

This monograph presents the results of a cost-effectiveness analysis to determine the best way to recapitalize the USAF intertheater (strategic) airlift fleet, which will be reaching the end of its service life in the next few decades.

Report

A Gap Analysis of Life Cycle Management Commands and Best Purchasing and Supply Management Organizations — Jan 7, 2013

Reviews the Army's achievements in implementing best purchasing and supply management practices and describes how this progress compares with that of leading commercial enterprises.

Report

Rapid Acquisition and Fielding for Information Assurance and Cyber Security in the Navy — Dec 21, 2012

The U.S. Navy requires an agile, adaptable acquisition process that can field new IT capabilities and services quickly. Successful rapid acquisition programs in the Army, Air Force, and Marine Corps offer lessons for the Navy as it develops its own streamlined processes for computer network defense and similar program areas.

Report

Assessing the Impact of Requiring Justification and Approval Review for Sole Source 8(a) Native American Contracts in Excess of $20 Million — Dec 10, 2012

A new federal requirement for justification and approval of 8(a) contracts over $20 million may delay the awarding of these contracts to eligible participants such as Native Group firms but have little impact on the number of such contracts awarded.

Report

Lessons from the Army's Future Combat Systems Program — Dec 5, 2012

Documents the U.S. Army's Future Combat Systems program's history, from inception to cancellation, and draws lessons from its experiences.

Research Brief

Choosing Defense Project Portfolios: A New Tool for Making Optimal Choices in a World of Constraint and Uncertainty — Oct 11, 2012

PortMan, RAND's new portfolio analysis and management methodology, provides a means for decisionmakers to find the optimal portfolio of projects, maximizing the probability of filling a desired set of requirements while restraining costs.

Report

An Assessment of the Civilian Acquisition Workforce Personnel Demonstration Project — Oct 11, 2012

This is a legislatively mandated assessment of the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) Civilian Acquisition Workforce Personnel Demonstration Project (AcqDemo).

Report

Saving the Government Money: Examples from RAND's Federally Funded Research and Development Centers — Oct 2, 2012

This publication lists and briefly summarizes some projects undertaken by RAND's three federally funded research and development centers that have helped save the government money or that have identified ways to do so. Amounts saved are estimated.

Report

Methodologies in Analyzing the Root Causes of Nunn-McCurdy Breaches — Sep 27, 2012

Congressional concern with cost overruns in some major defense acquisition programs led to an investigation of root causes in six programs, enabling RAND to develop a methodology for carrying out such analyses.

Report

The Air Force's Experience with Should-Cost Reviews and Options for Enhancing Its Capability to Conduct Them — Sep 6, 2012

Examines the Air Force experience with should-cost reviews — a special form of contract cost analysis intended to identify contractor inefficiencies and lower costs — and options for enhancing the Air Force's capability to conduct such reviews.

Report

Integrating the Department of Defense Supply Chain — Sep 4, 2012

Provides a guide for the design and improvement of Department of Defense supply chain policy, structure, and management practices, along with associated opportunities for efficiency gains.

Report

Root Cause Analyses of Nunn-McCurdy Breaches, Volume 2: Excalibur Artillery Projectile and the Navy Enterprise Resource Planning Program, with an Approach to Analyzing Complexity and Risk — Aug 27, 2012

Concern with cost overruns in major defense acquisition programs led Congress to direct investigation of root causes of programs that breached Nunn-McCurdy thresholds. RAND applied its methodology to Excalibur and the Navy's ERP.

Report

Air Force Materiel Command Reorganization Analysis: Final Report — Jul 6, 2012

A congressionally mandated review of the proposed restructuring of Air Force Materiel Command examined the proposal and its effect on life-cycle management, weapon system sustainment, and overall support to the warfighter.

Report

Understanding Potential Air Force Roles in Promoting International Energy Security — Jun 19, 2012

Tech. Sgt. guides a fuel hose back to a truck after refueling a C-17 Globemaster III aircraft

Energy purchases made by the U.S. DoD do not influence world oil prices, making cutting fuel use the only effective choice to reduce what the Pentagon spends on it. The U.S. military can continue to have an important role in promoting stability in major oil producing regions and by helping protect the flow of energy through major transit corridors and on the high seas.

News Release

U.S. Military's Role with Petroleum Is to Assure Security — Jun 19, 2012

Energy purchases made by the U.S. Department of Defense do not influence world oil prices, making cutting fuel use the only effective choice to reduce what the Pentagon spends on petroleum fuels.

Report

RAND NSRD Annual Report 2011-2012 — Jun 8, 2012

Surveys the work of the RAND National Security Research Division from the spring of 2011 through the winter of 2012.

Report

Methodology for Constructing a Modernization Roadmap for Air Force Automatic Test Systems — May 24, 2012

The Air Force is planning to modernize its automatic testing capabilities for electronics by moving to modern, common families of test equipment. This report focuses on the economic aspect of this process.

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