Modernizing the U.S. Aircraft Carrier Fleet

Accelerating CVN 21 Production Versus Mid-Life Refueling

John F. Schank, Giles K. Smith, Brien Alkire, Mark V. Arena, John Birkler, James Chiesa, Edward G. Keating, Lara Schmidt

ResearchPublished 2005

As the Navy builds the last of its Nimitz-class carriers, it asked RAND to study the trade-offs involved in accelerating the production of its new CVN 21 carrier while hastening the retirement of some of the Nimitz fleet. What are the trade-offs involved in terms of cost, capability, and fleet size? RAND researchers looked at the Navy’s existing plan and compared it with several alternatives and discovered that the Navy could modernize its fleet with the higher-performance, lower-cost CVN 21 at a cost premium no greater than 12 percent over its current plan. Allowing for the CVN 21’s greater capability might permit the Navy to justify a smaller fleet size while it modernizes, and aggressive cost-cutting moves could reduce the cost premium significantly. The authors find no industrial base impediments to accelerating the program and conclude that the importance the Navy attaches to the increased fleet value premium should determine whether the increased cost is a good investment.

Order a Print Copy

Format
Paperback
Page count
124 pages
List Price
$20.00
Buy link
Add to Cart

Topics

Document Details

  • Copyright: RAND Corporation
  • Availability: Available
  • Year: 2005
  • Print Format: Paperback
  • Paperback Pages: 124
  • Paperback Price: $20.00
  • Paperback ISBN/EAN: 978-0-8330-3720-6
  • Document Number: MG-289-NAVY

Citation

RAND Style Manual
Schank, John F., Giles K. Smith, Brien Alkire, Mark V. Arena, John Birkler, James Chiesa, Edward G. Keating, and Lara Schmidt, Modernizing the U.S. Aircraft Carrier Fleet: Accelerating CVN 21 Production Versus Mid-Life Refueling, RAND Corporation, MG-289-NAVY, 2005. As of October 10, 2024: https://www.rand.org/pubs/monographs/MG289.html
Chicago Manual of Style
Schank, John F., Giles K. Smith, Brien Alkire, Mark V. Arena, John Birkler, James Chiesa, Edward G. Keating, and Lara Schmidt, Modernizing the U.S. Aircraft Carrier Fleet: Accelerating CVN 21 Production Versus Mid-Life Refueling. Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation, 2005. https://www.rand.org/pubs/monographs/MG289.html. Also available in print form.
BibTeX RIS

Research conducted by

The research described in this report was prepared for the United States Navy. The research was conducted in the RAND National Defense Research Institute, a federally funded research and development center supported by the Office of the Secretary of Defense, the Joint Staff, the unified commands, and the defense agencies.

This publication is part of the RAND monograph series. RAND monographs were products of RAND from 2003 to 2011 that presented major research findings that addressed the challenges facing the public and private sectors. All RAND monographs were subjected to rigorous peer review to ensure high standards for research quality and objectivity.

This document and trademark(s) contained herein are protected by law. This representation of RAND intellectual property is provided for noncommercial use only. Unauthorized posting of this publication online is prohibited; linking directly to this product page is encouraged. Permission is required from RAND to reproduce, or reuse in another form, any of its research documents for commercial purposes. For information on reprint and reuse permissions, please visit www.rand.org/pubs/permissions.

RAND is a nonprofit institution that helps improve policy and decisionmaking through research and analysis. RAND's publications do not necessarily reflect the opinions of its research clients and sponsors.