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United States Department of Defense

Report

What If China Becomes the World Leader in AI Innovation?

Artificial intelligence technologies may become critical force multipliers in future armed conflicts. China has prioritized AI to enhance its national competitiveness and security. If its plan is successful, China will achieve a substantial military advantage over the United States and its allies by 2030.

Jul 8, 2020
Commentary

Book Review: 'The Kill Chain: Defending America in the Future of High-Tech Warfare' by Christian Brose

As the Pentagon and commercial technologists continue to explore the potential of commercial technologies for the military and work towards greater adoption, they may wish to focus not only on lowering bureaucratic barriers but also on managing expectations about what technologies will be most beneficial and how they will be used.

Jul 2, 2020
Report

Report

Benchmarking Data Use and Analytics in Large, Complex Private-Sector Organizations: Implications for Department of Defense Acquisition

This report examines how the private sector addresses data governance and analytics to inform how the Department of Defense can develop and apply advanced analytics to acquisition challenges.

Jun 4, 2020
Report

Approaches for Strengthening Total Force Culture and Facilitating Cross-Component Integration in the U.S. Military

This research identifies practices that contribute to improved integration and a stronger total force culture, focusing on approaches that could impart cross-component knowledge and provide rewards for service members to work across components.

May 28, 2020
Report

Report

Building a Broader Evidence Base for Defense Acquisition Policymaking

This report summarizes the case for a broader evidence base for defense acquisition policymaking. It also describes a prototype policy game focused on Middle-Tier Acquisition that researchers developed to enrich the available evidence base.

May 19, 2020
Essay

Civilians Returning from War Zones Need More Support

Deployed civilians often work alongside the military in combat zones or other high-stress, high-risk areas. But when they return, their experience is much different. They come home to support that is often incomplete and insufficient, and sometimes entirely nonexistent.

May 18, 2020
Commentary

Be Wary of Proposals for Less Defense Budget Transparency

The Pentagon has asked Congress to end the requirement that it make public an unclassified version of the Future Years Defense Program—the department's budget plans for at least the next five years. Although some information needs to be classified, the value of transparency for public debate and oversight in a democracy outweighs the marginal intelligence gains to U.S. adversaries.

Apr 29, 2020
Brochure

Supporting the National Defense Strategy

This document describes RAND's contributions to shaping the 2018 National Defense Strategy and ongoing contributions to Defense Department efforts to create the forces, posture, and operating concepts needed to achieve the goals of the strategy.

Apr 27, 2020
Commentary

Defense Budget Implications of the COVID-19 Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic is taking a dramatic toll on the U.S. economy. This could have significant medium-term implications for the U.S. defense budget. The U.S. Department of Defense will need to find efficiencies that are of at least the same magnitude as the recent sequestration.

Apr 7, 2020
Dissertation

Dissertation

Building Better Games for National Security Policy Analysis: Towards a Social Scientific Approach

Proposes an approach to game design grounded in logics of inquiry from the social sciences.

Apr 7, 2020
Commentary

Pandemics and the U.S. Military: Lessons from 1918

Military leaders today face a more benign security environment than their predecessors did during the 1918 Spanish flu. The U.S. military is engaged in operations abroad, but it's not fighting a great-power war. The Pentagon has every reason to focus on stemming the COVID-19 pandemic even if it has to absorb some downgrade in readiness.

Apr 1, 2020
Commentary

Force Planning in the New Era of Strategic Competition

If the United States means to take a return to strategic competition seriously, then force planning must evolve beyond the post–Cold War approach. A new framework would let users test their intuition and identify areas of advantage while avoiding the risk of persisting in competitions that impose onerous costs.

Mar 28, 2020
News Release

News Release

New Space Force Will Need Resources, Clear Definition of Warfighting Mission

To meet the goals of the U.S. Space Force most space activities in the Department of Defense should be moved into the new service. Moreover, it will be critical that the Space Force clearly define and clarify its space warfighting mission.

Mar 13, 2020
Report

A Separate Space: Creating a Military Service for Space

As the United States creates the Space Force as a service within the Department of the Air Force, RAND assessed which units to bring into the Space Force, analyzed career field sustainability and drew lessons from other defense organizations.

Mar 13, 2020
Research Brief

How to Build an Effective, Efficient, and Independent Space Force

To increase its likelihood of developing into a successful organization, the new U.S. Space Force should define and clarify its space warfighting missions. And most space activities in the Department of Defense should be moved into the new service.

Mar 13, 2020
Blog

National Security Commission on AI Requests New Ideas; RAND Responds

The National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence put out an open call for submissions about emerging technology's role in the global order. RAND researchers stepped up to the challenge and submitted a wide range of ideas.

Feb 21, 2020
Report

Do Civilians Receive the Support They Need After Deployment?

As more U.S. government civilians have been deployed over the past two decades, increasing numbers have been exposed to high-threat environments. Combat exposure and related stressors correlate with significant levels of health conditions. How are these civilians reintegrated when they return?

Feb 11, 2020
Report

Issues with Access to Acquisition Information in the Department of Defense: A Series on Considerations for Managing Program Data in the Emerging Acquisition Environment

This research identifies and describes some of the issues related to managing acquisition program information in the emerging acquisition environment resulting from statutory changes within the Department of Defense acquisition community.

Feb 6, 2020
Report

Report

Considerations for Managing Program Data in the Emerging Acquisition Environment: Summary

This research identifies and describes some of the issues related to managing acquisition program information in the emerging acquisition environment resulting from statutory changes within the Department of Defense acquisition community.

Feb 6, 2020
Commentary

How to Actually Recruit Talent for the AI Challenge

In the global race to dominate AI technologies, talent is everything. The Pentagon should consider redesigning its personnel policies to accommodate a much greater degree of speed and permeability in its cyber and AI workforce, regardless of what pay and benefits it offers.

Feb 5, 2020

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RAND Topic:
United States Department of Defense

Topic Synonyms:
Department of Defense