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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
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.
Feb 9, 2022
Report
Weighing the Cost and Necessity of Nuclear Modernization
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.
Jan 3, 2022

Explore Military Acquisition and Procurement

Report
Systematic Method for Prioritizing Investments in Game-Changing Technologies: The Evaluation and Comparison Process Framework
This report summarizes a framework and process to characterize and compare potential game-changing technologies based on likely operational advantage, given specific technological capabilities, challenges of implementation and cost.
Jul 18, 2022
Report
Improving Defense Acquisition
Informed by 35 years of RAND research on defense acquisition, a new analysis describes overarching trends that affect DoD's acquisition system, outlines challenges in the acquisition process, and suggests improvements that might help address those challenges.
Jun 16, 2022
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

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RAND Topic:
Military Acquisition and Procurement

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