Project Air Force is Making a Difference with the Air Force

Research Spotlight

Recent Work

  • Life Cycle Management of Military Commercial Derivative Aircraft

    Drawing on interviews with U.S. Air Force, Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), and industry experts, the authors assess the benefits and challenges of (and propose best practices for) commercial derivative aircraft acquisition.

  • How Training Infrastructure Can Improve Assessments of Air Force Readiness

    The Department of the Air Force's Senior Leadership is increasingly concerned that the readiness assessment system does not adequately measure the capability of the force to meet future mission requirements. New research finds that advances in the technological capabilities of training infrastructure can help fill gaps in current readiness assessments.

  • Findings and Recommendations for Funding Technology-Related Business Initiatives in the Department of the Air Force

    The U.S. Air Force is undertaking an effort to use information technology to transform human resource management. Researchers offer strategies for securing sufficient resources for this digital transformation effort.

  • Insights on Implementing Technology-Enabled Human Resources Capabilities in the U.S. Air Force

    The U.S. Air Force is working to replace its traditional human resources system with a digital talent management system. To support a successful implementation, researchers offer a collection of best practice derived from similar organizations that have already made this switch.

  • Leveraging Commercial Space Services

    The expanding commercial space industry offers new opportunities — such as technological advances, lower launch costs, and innovative satellite applications — that could help the U.S. military meet mission requirements more efficiently.

  • Improving Integration and Synchronization of Space Acquisition and Fielding

    A priority of the United States Space Force (USSF) is to improve vertical and horizontal integration and synchronization of space capabilities. To assist with this priority, the authors of this research defined existing challenges and recommended ways that USSF can facilitate the integration and synchronization of space acquisition and fielding to support the timely delivery of end-to-end space capabilities to the joint force.

  • Saving the Government Money: Examples from RAND's FFRDCs

    RAND's defense-related federally funded research and development centers apply research capital they have developed over the years to help decisionmakers solve problems and often save money as well. This publication lists and briefly summarizes some RAND projects undertaken over the past several years that have helped save the government money or that have identified ways to do so.