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Military Acquisition and Procurement

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Maintaining a military that is prepared to face uncertain future security challenges often requires the acquisition and procurement of new and technologically advanced equipment, which is a major expense for any nation. For decades, RAND has researched and evaluated military acquisition and procurement activities, providing essential recommendations to allow military decisionmakers to manage costs and streamline the acquisition process more effectively.

Research Brief

Assessing China's Defense Industrial Base

Feb 9, 2022

What are the systemic strengths and vulnerabilities of China's defense industrial base? A comparative systems analysis looks at six key categories: economics; governance and regulations; raw materials; manufacturing; workforce, labor, and skills; and research, development, and innovation.
Report

Weighing the Cost and Necessity of Nuclear Modernization

Jan 3, 2022

The United States has fielded a Triad of air-, sea-, and land-based nuclear delivery systems since the 1950s. Major components are nearing the end of their service lives, raising the question of whether to extend or replace them. Meanwhile, Russia and China continue to modernize, diversify, and expand their nuclear arsenals.

Explore Military Acquisition and Procurement

Report

Contractor Risk and Performance Indicators: Prototype Functional Specification and Developer Document

This report presents the technical design and architecture of a RAND-developed software prototype that assesses relative contractor risks in Department of the Air Force acquisition contracts and programs as described in two companion reports.

May 16, 2022
Report

Early Predictive Indicators of Contractor Performance: A Data-Analytic Approach

This report presents initial insights and approaches in exploring and prototyping methods to identify potential contractor performance risks for the Department of the Air Force earlier than would be typically reported via traditional methods.

May 12, 2022
Report

Establishing a Sovereign Guided Weapons Enterprise for Australia

Australia's 2020 Defence Strategic Update calls for increased weapon inventories across the Australian Defence Force. How can Australia's creation of a Sovereign Guided Weapons Enterprise be informed by comparable international case studies?

Mar 21, 2022
Blog

Keeping Russians Informed, No-Fly Zone Policy, Telehealth: RAND Weekly Recap

This weekly recap focuses on how to ensure Russians have access to accurate news about the war in Ukraine, strategic considerations for keeping a no-fly zone option on the table, treating pain conditions among U.S. service members, and more.

Mar 18, 2022
Periodical

RAND Review: March-April 2022

The cover story describes a yearlong study of a group of military veterans experiencing homelessness in Los Angeles. Other features examine the global digital skills gap and the magnitude and sources of disagreement among gun policy experts.

Mar 10, 2022
Report

Cyber Mission Thread Analysis: A Prototype Framework for Assessing Impact to Missions from Cyber Attacks to Weapon Systems

A decision to mitigate or accept a risk from a cyber attack to a weapon system depends on the operational mission impact. This proposed method for assessing mission impact is at once comprehensive and simple enough to scale across the U.S. Air Force.

Mar 10, 2022
Q&A

Building Better Government Acquisition Programs: Q&A with William Shelton

In the U.S. Air Force, William Shelton managed hundreds of millions of dollars in acquisition programs. He retired as a colonel then joined RAND as an engineer. One of his recent projects provided the U.S. Space Force with a new approach to acquisition, designed around its unique mission.

Mar 4, 2022
Report

Securing the Microelectronics Supply Chain: Four Policy Issues for the U.S. Department of Defense to Consider

The authors analyze how the U.S. Department of Defense could mitigate microelectronics supply chain risk. They consider the appropriate mix of policy levers to promote a microelectronics technology ecosystem that is aligned with U.S. strategic goals.

Feb 28, 2022
Blog

Refugees, Women's Health Research, Supporting Incarcerated Parents: RAND Weekly Recap

This weekly recap focuses on the humanitarian fallout from a Russian invasion of Ukraine, investing in women’s health research, supporting incarcerated parents, and more.

Feb 18, 2022
Report

Realising the Ambitions of the UK's Defence Space Strategy: Factors Shaping Implementation to 2030

This study provides an initial look at the factors influencing the implementation of the Defence Space Strategy to 2030 and the strengths and weaknesses of the UK space enterprise. It also includes a decision support tool for capability management.

Feb 17, 2022
Report

Assessing Systemic Strengths and Vulnerabilities of China's Defense Industrial Base: With a Repeatable Methodology for Other Countries

The authors assess the strengths and vulnerabilities of China's defense industrial base (DIB) by designing and applying a comparative analytic structure that could be used to assess any country's DIB.

Feb 11, 2022
Report

Relative Contractor Risks: A Data-Analytic Approach to Early Identification

The authors prototyped a new way to apply data analysis on a variety of government and commercial data sources to assess the relative contractor performance risks in Air Force acquisition contracts and programs.

Feb 4, 2022
Commentary

Is Russia's Su-75 'Checkmate' Aircraft a Case of Vapor Marketing?

During a Moscow air show last summer, Russia rolled out a mockup of the Su-75, a multipurpose fighter-bomber designed to compete in the global marketplace. But given the Russian aerospace sector's difficulties in developing, let alone delivering, advanced combat aircraft, prospective buyers should consider a range of options to meet defense needs.

Jan 6, 2022
Report

Assessing the Readiness of Contractor-Provided Space Operations Capabilities

There are a significant number of private contractors performing space operations functions and tasks for the Air Force. This report examines how the Air Force evaluates its ability to deliver space operations capabilities provided by contractors.

Jan 3, 2022
Report

Improving Intelligence Support to the Future Warfighter: Acquisition for the Contested Environment

In view of new and increasingly sophisticated threats from peer and near-peer adversaries, the authors suggest reforms to the processes by which intelligence informs the U.S. Air Force acquisition enterprise.

Nov 4, 2021
Report

Is the Defense Acquisition System Postured to Solve National Defense Strategy Operational Problems?

The authors propose assessing the defense acquisition system's ability to overcome the operational problems outlined in the 2018 National Defense Strategy, discuss why the approach is valuable, and suggest next steps.

Sep 20, 2021
Report

Data Rights Relevant to Weapon Systems in Air Force Special Operations Command

The Air Force needs better access to contractors' technical data to sustain core military aircraft assets and subsystems. For this to happen, the U.S. government needs the appropriate license rights and actual possession of the data.

Sep 2, 2021
Report

A Clean Sheet Approach to Space Acquisition in Light of the New Space Force

The authors describe an unconstrained "clean sheet" approach to space acquisition for the U.S. Space Force designed around the unique mission and calling of the new service.

Aug 25, 2021

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RAND Topic:
Military Acquisition and Procurement

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