Skip to page content

Defense Infrastructure

Featured

The buildings and permanent installations necessary for the support, deployment, and operation of a nation's military constitute its defense infrastructure. RAND research has examined the structure and needs of U.S. and allied military facilities, provided recommendations concerning base realignment, and investigated ways to maximize the capabilities and utilization of existing resources and to define future infrastructure needs.

Commentary
Bolstering U.S. Air Bases Against Chinese and Russian Attacks
There's a growing consensus that China and Russia represent major threats to U.S. interests, and there are calls to counter the threats cost-effectively. Air base resilience requires close familiarity with the threat, a systematic approach for addressing it, and sustained efforts to build on investments in protection.
Jan 17, 2023
Report
How Can the Department of the Air Force Prepare for Natural Hazards?
Some Air Force facilities are exposed to flooding, high winds, wildfires, or even multiple hazards. Future costs of damages are uncertain, and climate change could affect the frequency and scale of these hazards. The process for making investment decisions regarding resilience should be flexible.
Aug 9, 2021

Explore Defense Infrastructure

Report
Valuing Army Installation Resilience Investments for Natural Hazards: Exploring the Use of Insurance Methods and Historical Installation Storm Damage
In this report, the authors assess Army installation risks from natural hazards and Army resilience investment processes and recommend ways the Army can reduce associated costs based on an analysis of insurance industry methods and historical installation storm damage.
Nov 6, 2023
Report
Incorporating Environmental Considerations into Defense Acquisition Practices
RAND researchers assess the knowledge, tools, and capabilities needed by the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) acquisition workforce to infuse environmental considerations into DoD requirements, acquisition, and resource allocation decisionmaking.
Oct 19, 2023
Report
Air Force Readiness Assessment: How Training Infrastructure Can Provide Better Information for Decisionmaking
Investments in U.S. Air Force training infrastructure to improve readiness assessment can better inform decisions amid changing environments, an increased pace of warfare, and the potential loss of superiority.
Oct 19, 2023
Research Brief
How Training Infrastructure Can Improve Assessments of Air Force Readiness
This brief summarizes research on how investments in U.S. Air Force training infrastructure to improve readiness assessment can better inform decisions amid changing environments, an increased pace of warfare, and the potential loss of superiority.
Oct 19, 2023
Report
Improving Integration and Synchronization of Space Acquisition and Fielding
The authors of this research explored ways the United States Space Force can facilitate the integration and synchronization of space acquisition and fielding to support the delivery of end-to-end space capabilities to outpace adversary threats.
Aug 31, 2023
Report
Accounting for Climate Resilience in Infrastructure Investment Decisionmaking: A Data-Driven Approach for Department of the Air Force Project Prioritization
A new approach allows comparison of infrastructure projects based on their ability to improve installation resilience to climate-related hazards, supporting the Department of the Air Force’s climate resilience investment decisionmaking.
Aug 22, 2023
Report
Deterring Russia and Iran
How can the United States effectively and efficiently deter Russia and Iran without crowding out investments in other military missions, including competition with China in the Indo-Pacific?
Aug 17, 2023
Commentary
Australia's Sovereign Capability in Military Weapons
The authors of this Perspective discuss the objectives of Australia's Guided Weapons and Explosive Ordnance Enterprise and examine options to achieve these objectives.
Jul 5, 2023
Report
How Can DoD Compare Damage Costs Against Resilience Investment Costs for Climate-Driven Natural Hazards? Overview of an Analytic Approach, Its Advantages, and Its Limitations
This report assesses methods to compare the damage costs from climate change-related extreme weather events against the costs of investing in U.S. Department of Defense installation resilience.
Apr 28, 2023
Blog
Regulating Space, Threats to Critical Infrastructure, Psychedelics: RAND Weekly Recap
This weekly recap focuses on the need for governance in outer space, why the recent FAA system failure was a wake-up call, the changing policy landscape around psychedelic therapies, and more.
Jan 20, 2023
Report
A Methodology for Quantifying the Value of Cybersecurity Investments in the Navy
Researchers developed a methodology to assess the value of resource options for U.S. Navy cybersecurity investments. The proposed methodology enables the Navy to rationalize the cost-effectiveness of potential investments within the POM process.
Sep 28, 2022
Report
Air Force Operational Test and Training Infrastructure: Barriers to Full Implementation
This report offers stakeholders in Air Force training a framework for discerning the implications of different training infrastructure investments for assessing the readiness of individuals and aircrews.
Feb 28, 2022
Report
Enhancing Defence's Contribution to Societal Resilience in the UK: Lessons from International Approaches
This study sought to understand other nations' approaches to societal resilience to enhance UK resilience. The study defined societal resilience and its importance, analysed other countries' practices, and identified lessons relevant to UK Defence.
Oct 21, 2021
Research Brief
The Growing Exposure of Air Force Installations to Natural Disasters
Some Department of the Air Force installations face high levels of exposure to flooding, wildfires, or high winds. Twenty installations have areas with high or very high wildfire potential.
Sep 16, 2021
Report
Aligning Roles and Missions for Future Multidomain Warfare
The formal decisions, documents, and events that established the roles, missions, and functions (RMF) of the U.S. Department of Defense and the military services in the early postwar years are over 70 years old. Is the existing RMF framework fundamentally sound, requiring only modest adjustments?
Aug 19, 2021
Commentary
Military and Defense-Related Supply Chains
After the Cold War, U.S. logistics planners moved away from a focus on effectiveness to a focus on efficiency in the sense that little is left idle for significant periods and that commodities are delivered at minimum cost. The ability of the system to support the joint force in the event of major conflict is at best untested and could be problematic.
Jun 22, 2021
Commentary
U.S. Military Power Comes from More Than Just the Defense Budget
With U.S. domestic challenges ranging from the ongoing pandemic to long-delayed infrastructure investments, now is a good time to consider spending that provides both domestic and national security benefits. Infrastructure spending offers one such example.
May 10, 2021
Commentary
The Pentagon Could Help Improve Resilience of the U.S. Electric Grid
The resilience and robustness of the U.S. electric grid needs to be improved, especially given the likely increased occurrence and magnitude of natural disasters due to climate change. This is where government entities that operate large facilities in the United States, such as the Department of Defense, can potentially play a role.
Mar 25, 2021

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
Next

RAND Topic:
Defense Infrastructure

Topic Synonyms:
Military Infrastructure

Research conducted by

Researcher Spotlight

Edward Bryan

Analyst

Edward "Ed" Bryan (he/him) is an analyst at the RAND Corporation. Working primarily for RAND Europe in the areas of defence and security, he is deputy lead of the Defence Workforces and Armed Forces Community research portfolio and a subject matter expert in the fields of critical geopolitics…
Mattias Eken

Analyst

Mattias Eken is an analyst at the RAND Corporation. Working primarily in the area of defence and security at RAND Europe, his research interests include nuclear strategy and security, counterterrorism, intelligence studies, and global security. In addition, he has worked on projects relating to…

Explore Our People »