Skip to page content

Air Warfare

Air warfare is the ability to disable an opponent's military using strategic strikes from manned and unmanned aircraft. RAND has extensive experience evaluating and providing recommendations to military decisionmakers to ensure rapid, effective, and sustainable airborne deployments to counter regional threats.

Report

The tanKer Aerial Refueling Model for Analysis (KARMA)

This report describes the algorithms used in the tanKer Air Refueling Model for Analysis (KARMA) and explains how to use the model. KARMA simulates the extent to which a tanker force can aerially refuel combat aircraft in a denied environment.

Sep 4, 2019
Report

Report

Distributed Operations in a Contested Environment: Implications for USAF Force Presentation

This report's authors identify capabilities the Air Force needs to carry out distributed operations in a contested environment. They then assess whether the current force presentation model can provide such capabilities.

Jul 17, 2019
Report

Report

OCEANS 17 Tabletop Exercise: Findings and Recommendations

In December 2017, the RAND Corporation conducted a tabletop exercise on air operations across the boundaries between geographic combatant commands. This report describes the exercise's design, key insights from our analysis, and recommendations.

May 9, 2019
Report

How the U.S. Air Force Shapes China's Military Aerospace Goals

Aerospace power has been a core feature of the People's Liberation Army's rapid modernization. The main driver for its development is the PLA's view that it needs to be prepared to deter and, if necessary, defeat the United States in a high-end clash.

Nov 21, 2018
Report

Learning from Past U.S. Army–Air Force Collaborations

The Army and the Air Force are developing the concept of multi-domain battle to better coordinate air and ground forces to meet shared challenges. Lessons from past efforts show that to succeed, multi-domain battle will have to address the fundamental questions of each service's culture and deeply held views about warfighting.

Sep 13, 2018
Report

How Russia's Military Has Evolved

The Russian armed forces are not like the Soviet Army in size, depth, or global ideological aspirations. But Russia has demonstrated its military competence and operational flexibility in Crimea, eastern Ukraine, and Syria.

Dec 7, 2017
Journal Article

Journal Article

Airpower in Counter-Terrorist Operations: Balancing Objectives and Risks

Overview and analysis of harnessing airpower in counter-terrorist operations.

Dec 6, 2017
Report

Report

People's Liberation Army Air Force Operations over Water: Maintaining Relevance in China's Changing Security Environment

The report assesses notable developments in and implications of China's emerging aerospace expeditionary and power-projection capabilities, focusing particularly on the People's Liberation Army Air Force's operations over water.

Dec 6, 2017
Report

Report

The Chinese Air Force's First Steps Toward Becoming an Expeditionary Air Force

This is one of four reports based on RAND Project AIR FORCE Strategy and Doctrine Program research that assesses notable developments and implications of China's emerging aerospace expeditionary and power-projection capabilities.

Nov 10, 2017
Report

Report

Overview of People's Liberation Army Air Force "Elite Pilots"

This report draws on a wide variety of Chinese primary sources to provide an overview of how the Chinese People's Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) selects and trains what it calls its elite fighter pilots.

Aug 24, 2016
Report

Report

The Foundations of Operational Resilience — Assessing the Ability to Operate in an Anti-Access/Area Denial (A2/AD) Environment: The Analytical Framework, Lexicon, and Characteristics of the Operational Resilience Analysis Model (ORAM)

Describes a modeling framework and lexicon for conducting a detailed analysis of future Air Force operational resilience in an anti-access/area denial (A2/AD) environment.

Jul 7, 2016
Report

Report

Improvements to Air Force Strategic Basing Decisions

Examines the Air Force's basing decisionmaking process and assesses the quality of the underlying data.

Apr 15, 2016
Commentary

The French Way of War

There is a French way of warfare that reflects the French military's lack of resources and its modest sense of what it can achieve. They specialize in carefully apportioned and usually small but lethal operations, often behind the scenes.

Nov 17, 2015
Commentary

Insights on the Paris Terror Attacks from RAND Experts

RAND experts weigh in on what the wave of coordinated terror attacks across Paris means for France, the U.S.-led coalition against ISIS, the global refugee crisis, and more.

Nov 17, 2015
Q&A

A No-Fly Zone Over Syria: Q&A with Karl Mueller

Some are advocating a no-fly zone in Syria to protect civilians from both ISIS and forces loyal to Assad. What constraints complicate establishing a no-fly zone and realizing its expected benefits? And how might Assad supporters, such as Russia, respond?

Oct 15, 2015
Multimedia

United States and China: Trends in Military Competition

In this October 2015 congressional briefing, Eric Heginbotham discusses relative U.S. and Chinese military capabilities, including the evolution of Chinese military capabilities, steps the United States can take to limit the impact of a growing Chinese military on deterrence, and other U.S. strategic interests.

Oct 5, 2015
News Release

News Release

China's Military Modernization Increasingly Challenges U.S. Defense Capabilities in Asia

Although China continues to lag behind the United States in terms of aggregate military hardware and operational skills, it has improved its capabilities relative to those of the U.S. in many critical areas. Moreover, China does not need to catch up fully in order to challenge U.S. ability to conduct effective military operations near the Chinese mainland.

Sep 14, 2015
Research Brief

Chinese Attacks on U.S. Air Bases in Asia: An Assessment of Relative Capabilities

China has the most active ballistic-missile program in the world. It has made rapid and substantial relative improvements in its ability to disrupt or degrade U.S. air operations by attacking air bases.

Sep 14, 2015
Report

China's Military Modernization Increasingly Challenges U.S. Defense Capabilities in Asia

Although China continues to lag behind the United States in terms of aggregate military hardware and operational skills, it has improved its capabilities relative to those of the U.S. in many critical areas. Moreover, China does not need to catch up fully in order to challenge U.S. ability to conduct effective military operations near the Chinese mainland.

Sep 14, 2015
Research Brief

U.S. and Chinese Air Superiority Capabilities

The United States maintains unparalleled air-to-air capabilities. But the modernization of Chinese air forces, combined with the difficulties of operating over long distances in Asia, would make it more and more challenging for the United States to gain air superiority during the beginning of a possible conflict with China.

Sep 14, 2015

1
2
3
4
5
6
Next

RAND Topic:
Air Warfare

Research conducted by