Designing and fielding a fleet of technologically superior military aircraft is often an imperative for national and regional security, but the cost involved in acquiring and maintaining such fleets places a significant burden on defense budgets and can impact a nation's ability to project force. RAND research has provided policymakers with essential evaluations and recommendations to implement cost savings in the design, acquisition, and fielding of military aircraft.
REPORT
Nearly all Air Force electronics are tested and repaired using automatic test systems, most of which were designed and built for specific aging weapon systems and are beset by increasing hardware and software obsolescence. The Air Force is planning to modernize these capabilities by rehosting the testing on modern, common families of test equipment. This report focuses on the economic aspect of the rehosting decision.
COMMENTARY
The cost of providing ready aircrews, maintainers, and aircraft is one measure. But the cost of generating flying hours and satisfying ongoing operational demands must also be considered, writes Albert A. Robbert.
REPORT
An econometric assessment of the effectiveness of incentive pays in retaining remotely piloted aircraft pilots and sensor operators. Civilian pilot and sensor operator salaries are higher than those of other officers or enlisted personnel, indicating that incentive pays should be continued, along with reenlistment bonuses, because failure to retain enough personnel would cause serious problems with filling critical positions.
REPORT
The information explosion resulting from vast amounts of new motion imagery threatens to leave Air Force intelligence analysts drowning in data. One approach to meeting this challenge is to implement certain process changes and adopt a new organizational construct to improve the effectiveness of Air Force intelligence analysts while confronting the reality of limited resources.
REPORT
When a weapon system ceases production, the tooling not needed for sustainment that cannot be repurposed must either be disposed of or stored. Storage is not free, but system-specific tooling might become necessary for a restart, and starting from scratch can be expensive, although some tools cost more to store than they are worth. The authors examine these tooling retention issues for the C-17 cargo aircraft.
REPORT
An evaluation of potential logistics applications for unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) determines whether they are technically feasible, operationally feasible, and more cost-effective than other options. Six factors are identified that can be used to compare UAS and non-UAS based solutions to logistics tasks.
REPORT
Reviews a 2003 RAND evaluation of the risks and costs of the United States having little or no competition among companies involved with designing, developing, and producing fixed-wing military aircraft and related systems; examines changes in industrial-base structure and capabilities that have taken hold since that analysis was performed; and assesses how these and future changes will affect the industrial base.
REPORT
Congressional concern with cost overruns, or breaches, in several major defense acquisition programs led the authors, in a partnership with the Performance Assessments and Root Cause Analysis Office in the Office of the Secretary of Defense, Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics, to investigate root causes by examining program reviews, analyzing data, participating in contractor briefings, and holding meetings with diverse stakeholders.
REPORT
This technical report describes the benefits of reallocating certain maintenance activities between mission-generation locations and a repair network, options to support the C-130, and consolidating repair network activities to centralized repair facilities. The report also provides an initial assessment of maintenance concepts that integrate wing-level and depot-level maintenance processes.
REPORT
This report examines whether a laser-beam-powered unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) could have practical merit, focusing on the altitude, range, persistence, and power possible for a laser-photovoltaic aircraft that uses current technology. Commercially available lasers and photovoltaic cells could provide a UAV with sustained extremely high altitude and moderate persistence and payload.
REPORT
This report describes a process for achieving and maintaining the balance between requirements for rated personnel and inventory. The process includes (1) recategorizing positions; (2) streamlining conversion of recategorized positions; (3) planning for effects of major actions on rated requirements; (4) redesigning positions to concentrate tasks requiring rated expertise in fewer rated positions; (5) making aircrew management more…
REPORT
Israel's disappointing performance in its war against Hezbollah in Lebanon in 2006 did not reflect a "failure of air power," but rather a failure of Israel's political and military leaders to properly assess the enemy, set achievable goals, apply an effective strategy and adequately manage public expectations.
NEWS RELEASE
Israel's disappointing performance in its war against Hezbollah in Lebanon in 2006 did not reflect a "failure of air power," but rather a failure of Israel's political and military leaders to properly assess the enemy, set achievable goals, apply an effective strategy and adequately manage public expectations.
REPORT
Air Force range managers are responsible for scheduling the ranges and infrastructures units need for critical, realistic testing and training, sometimes on short notice. They must also supply associated requirements, which requires information and understanding. To aid this, the authors offer an example method that marries the Center Scheduling Enterprise with an update of an existing RAND tool (provided on CD).
REPORT
Written testimony submitted to the U.S. China Economic and Security Review Commission on March 10, 2011.
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…
REPORT
This functional needs analysis is the second in a trio of documents that the Joint Capabilities Integration and Development System requires for a capabilities-based assessment of intratheater airlift capabilities. This volume examines the ability of current assets to deliver required services, using a set of three mission areas and two vignettes as test cases.
REPORT
This functional solution analysis is the third in a trio of documents that the Joint Capabilities Integration and Development System requires for a capabilities-based assessment of intratheater airlift capabilities. The analysis examined nonmateriel options for preserving airlift capacity by delaying the need to recapitalize the fleet. Without viable, enduring nonmateriel solutions, there is a need to evaluate materiel solutions.
REPORT
This functional area analysis is the first in a trio that the Joint Capabilities Integration and Development System requires for a capabilities-based assessment of intratheater airlift capabilities. This volume lays out the tasks, conditions, and standards for the intratheater airlift fleet, derived from high-level guidance, various operational concepts, and recent operational experience, as well as the key variables for later analyses.
REPORT
The last F-22A aircraft is scheduled for delivery in early 2012, so decisions must be made as to what tooling will be retained and what will be disposed of. The authors find that, for a modest, one-time additional cost of $17 million and a very small additional annual recurring cost, the Air Force can retain all F-22A unique government tools. They also find a difference of less than $1 billion between the costs of two different restart…
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