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Military Airlift

Report
Strategic Airlift in Africa: Understanding Challenges and Opportunities for the Movement Coordination Centre Europe (MCCE) and Member Nations
The Movement Coordination Centre Europe commissioned RAND Europe to conduct a scoping study to understand constraints of operating in Africa, as well as barriers to the efficient coordination of airlift and other logistic support in the continent. This narrated presentation describes the project, including key findings.
Aug 20, 2021
Report
Strategic Airlift in Africa: Understanding Challenges and Opportunities for the Movement Coordination Centre Europe
The Movement Coordination Centre Europe commissioned RAND Europe to conduct a scoping study to understand constraints of operating in Africa, as well as barriers to the efficient coordination of airlift and other logistic support in the continent.
Jul 22, 2021
Commentary
Japan and Dynamic Force Employment
In April, the United States ended a program that maintained a rotational bomber force to the U.S. territory of Guam. While the removal of a permanent bomber presence in the region has caused some in Japan to worry, U.S. commitment to Japan's defense shows no sign of changing nor does America's deterrent capability.
Jun 23, 2020
Report
Personnel Recovery in the AFRICOM Area of Responsibility: Cost-Effective Options for Improvement
This report identifies the most cost-effective options for improving medical rescue capabilities in U.S. Africa Command's area of responsibility.
Aug 27, 2019
Report
Worldwide C-17 Availability to Support 82nd Airborne Operations from Fort Bragg/Pope Field
This report explores C-17 availability and determines how quickly these aircraft and their aircrews can reach and depart from Fort Bragg/Pope Field, where the 82nd Airborne Division operates, from the many locations they are deployed to worldwide.
Aug 18, 2016
Report
Enabling the Global Response Force: Access Strategies for the 82nd Airborne Division
The Global Response Force is built for rapid response to unforeseen operations. This study recommends specific GRF access strategies for each geographic combatant command given constraints in aircraft, intermediate staging bases, and other factors.
Jul 28, 2016
Commentary
Reimagining and Modernizing U.S. Airborne Forces for the 21st Century
Many of the challenges the U.S. will face in the coming years across the range of military operations could be deep inland and require rapid response. Airborne forcible entry — with reimagined and modernized airborne forces — would offer decisionmakers options in crises that they do not possess today.
Apr 20, 2016
Report
Airpower in the Libyan Civil War
In 2011, a coalition of nations waged a war against Muammar Qaddafi's regime that reversed the tide of Libya's civil war. The intervention's central element was a relatively small air campaign. What lessons did each nation glean from the experience?
Jul 8, 2015
Report
Tankering Fuel on U.S. Air Force Transport Aircraft
Tankering fuel involves carrying excess fuel when flying from origins where fuel is less expensive than at the destination. Would this practice generate cost savings if used on U.S. Air Force transport aircraft?
Jun 23, 2015
Report
Enhancing Army Airborne Forces
U.S. Army airborne forces could play a pivotal role in key missions in the future, particularly against hybrid threats and in anti-access environments. However, they face serious threats that could become more severe. To overcome these new threats, the airborne force will need new capabilities.
Jan 23, 2015
Dissertation
Capacity Management and Changing Requirements: Cost Effective Decision Making in an Uncertain World
Explores other options for dealing with excess Air Force fleet capacity and their relative cost effectiveness.
Oct 30, 2013
Report
Maximizing Throughput at Soft Airfields
Shows that there is an optimum landing weight that allows for maximum cargo delivery on soft landing fields. This optimum weight is constant and independent of both aircraft ramp weight and the ability of the soil to resist compressive loads.
Apr 23, 2013
Report
Reducing Long-Term Costs While Preserving a Robust Strategic Airlift Fleet: Options for the Current Fleet and Next-Generation Aircraft
The current strategic airlift fleet will be reaching the end of its service life in the next few decades, which has raised concerns about the cost and possible budget spike that would result from the need to recapitalize that fleet. This monograph presents the results of a cost-effectiveness analysis to determine the best way to recapitalize the USAF intertheater (strategic) airlift fleet.
Jan 31, 2013
Report
Intratheater Airlift Functional Solution Analysis (FSA)
This functional solution analysis assesses changes to current U.S. Air Force operations to determine whether a nonmateriel solution could close the capability gap identified in the functional needs analysis.
Feb 24, 2011
Report
Intratheater Airlift Functional Area Analysis (FAA)
This functional area analysis lays out the tasks, conditions, and standards for the intratheater airlift fleet, taken from high-level guidance, various operational concepts, and recent operational experience and the key variables for later analyses.
Feb 24, 2011
Report
Intratheater Airlift Functional Needs Analysis (FNA)
This functional needs analysis assesses the ability of current U.S. Air Force assets to deliver the airlift capabilities identified in the functional area analysis.
Feb 24, 2011
Dissertation
Carry That Weight: Improving European Strategic Airlift Capabilities
Addresses the shortfall between the strategic airlift capabilities that the European Union needs to fulfill its ambition to be a credible security actor and the capabilities available to the major European nations.
Jun 4, 2007
Research Brief
Enhancing Airlift Planning and Execution in the Joint Theater Distribution System
This research brief describes how improvements in processes, organization, doctrine, training, and systems can help improve the effective and efficient movement of equipment and personnel in contingency operations.
Jun 28, 2006
Report
A Framework for Enhancing Airlift Planning and Execution Capabilities Within the Joint Expeditionary Movement System
How can the Air Force improve the planning and execution activities associated with developing intratheater airlift operations within the military joint end-to-end multimodal movement system?
May 1, 2006
Report
Understanding Airfield Capacity for Airlift Operations
This report describes follow-on work to investigate how differing levels and distributions of airfield resources, over a set of airfields, can affect airlift throughput.
Jan 1, 1998

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Military Airlift

Researcher Spotlight

Brent Thomas

Adjunct Operations Researcher

Brent Thomas is an optimization specialist whose analysis focuses on improving the quality of the U.S. military's casualty care in austere and contested operating conditions. More broadly, Thomas' work focuses on evaluating policy options for shaping expeditionary medical care and base…
Ben Caves

Senior Research Leader

Ben Caves is a senior research leader at RAND Europe with a focus on defence and security. He co-leads the defence workforce and skills workstream, which co-ordinates research activity around serving personnel, veterans and their families.

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