Cynthia R. Cook

The United Kingdom's Ministry of Defence (MOD) moved from a position of significant authority and responsibility in submarine design and development to one in which its acquisition responsibilities were largely transferred to a prime contractor. Now it is trying to re-engage. This book recommends measures and structures the UK Ministry of Defence can adopt to better manage its risks and responsibilities in the acquisition of nuclear submarines.

As the U.S. Space Force (USSF) pursues rapid acquisition of warfighting capabilities, a key question is whether the streamlining techniques being used to get new space systems to operators quickly create mission assurance vulnerabilities. The authors of this report examine the techniques being used to accelerate USSF acquisition, the risks associated with them, their potential impact on mission assurance, and the possible mitigations.

Given new and increasingly sophisticated threats from peer and near-peer adversaries, the authors provide an analysis of intelligence support to the U.S. Air Force acquisition community, identifying disincentives to seeking threat-informed analysis and proposing ways to enhance information sharing and workforce development to improve the integration of intelligence and acquisition.

The United States newest military service, the U.S. Space Force (USSF), has a unique opportunity to take advantage of the widening range of commercial capabilities and create a new culture and new management processes to respond to the growing challenges presented by potential adversaries in space. The authors describe an unconstrained ?clean sheet? approach to space acquisition for USSF designed around the new service's unique mission.

Since 2004, the U.S. Air Force has provided personnel for joint sourcing solution assignments in Iraq and Afghanistan. As a result, certain Air Force career fields are experiencing greater-than-expected deployment strains. Air Force personnel and deployment data were used to populate a RAND-developed model to assess the supply of and demand for Air Force personnel and various types of capabilities to fill joint assignments.

The U.S. Air Force asked RAND Project AIR FORCE to perform a congressionally required assessment of contractor versus organic management of F-22 air vehicle and F119 engine sustainment to determine the most cost-effective approach. The methodology involved the development of notional government sustainment organizations and a consideration of a variety of factors relevant to such a decision, including the asserted benefits of each approach.

Why have the costs of acquiring space systems been so high? What are the sources of the problem? To answer these questions, RAND undertook an extensive study of two space systems - the Space Based Infrared SystemHigh (SBIRS) and the Global Positioning System (GPS).This title analyzes the reason for the comparatively high growth in the cost of space systems by means of an in-depth study of two systems: SBIRS-High and GPS.

The Army must transform its institutional activities to align them with operating forces to improve support and release resources from institutional activities. This document is the executive summary for MG-530-A, What the Army Needs to Know to Align Its Operational and Institutional Activities, which provides a model for evaluating value chains to promote the alignment of needs and resources.

The Army must transform its institutional activities to align them with operating forces to improve support and release resources from institutional activities. This document provides a model for evaluating value chains to promote the alignment of needs and resources according to three representational institutional Army activities: medical services, enlisted accessioning, and short-term acquisition.

This book analyzes the interpretation, transformation, and future of the U.S. Air Force's ongoing surge requirements. "Sustainment surge" describes the increase in weapon systems repair activity brought on by the operational demands of wartime or contingency operations. In light of the U.S. military's transformations in force planning over the past 25 years, the authors of this report look at how the nature of surge has changed, whether legislation has hindered management in developing effective and efficient ways to manage surge, and whether the effectiveness and efficiency of surge planning can be improved.

Analysis of findings from case studies and structured interviews focused on determining the potential benefits and challenges of using price-based acquisition for Department of Defense procurement of major military-unique systems. Price-based acquisition (PBA), a major acquisition reform measure being used by the Department of Defense (DoD), is claimed to reduce costs and enhance acquisition efficiency. This study presents findings based on structured interviews and case studies to determine whether the claims are true and what potential benefits PBA may hold for DoD.

Assesses whether shipyards, other naval firms, and suppliers in the United Kingdom have sufficient capacity to meet the demands of the Ministry of Defence's construction of new ships and submarines over the next 15 years. The United Kingdom has many contracted and prospective shipbuilding programmes on the horizon over the next two decades. The UK Ministry of Defence wants to know whether its country's diminishing industrial base will be able to meet the requirements of this shipbuilding plan. Using extensive surveys and a breadth of data, RAND researchers look at the capacity of the UK shipbuilding industrial base and how alternative acquisition requirements, programmes, and schedules might affect this capability.

Analyzes alternative strategies for final assembly and checkout of the Joint Strike Fighter. (PW/CC); The Department of Defense asked RAND to examine alternatives for the final assembly and checkout (FACO) process of the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF). The authors considered alternatives to Lockheed Martin's current plan of carrying out all JSF FACO work at its Fort Worth, Texas, plant. RAND looked at single- and multiple-site options for performing FACO at four plants across the country. The authors found that no efficiency, effectiveness, or cost reasons exist to move FACO operations, or to split them between two sites or across multiple sites.

Abstract text (initials) During the past couple of decades, many segments of U.S. industry have benefited from introducing new manufacturing techniques that save money by increasing efficiency and reducing overhead. Would U.S. military aircraft manufacturing benefit from these techniques as well? This report examines the package of new tools and techniques known as "lean production" to see if it would enable aircraft manufacturers to produce new weapon systems at costs below those predicted by historical cost estimating models. The authors give a broad overview of what "lean" is and what it can and cannot accomplish in cutting manufacturing costs. They also detail results of industry efforts in this regard, including specific examples and averages of claimed cost savings. The authors conclude by identifying areas where companies need to push harder in lean implementation and what the Defense Department can do to encourage this.