John Birkler

To prepare for its next Defence White Paper, Australia is examining an enterprise-level naval shipbuilding plan. To support this effort, RAND researchers explore the feasibility of Australia sustaining a domestic naval shipbuilding industry compared with buying ships from foreign shipbuilders. The authors outline the complex consequences and trade-offs of both options.

The authors explore defense contractor motivations and identify mechanisms that might more closely align those incentives with Department of Defense goals. They also analyze major defense acquisition programs to determine if it is possible to identify programs that might incur a future Nunn-McCurdy breach by reviewing a number of acquisition programs that have incurred breaches and analyzing them for common characteristics.

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.

Responds to Senate's concerns that further consolidation in the military-aircraft industry from its current three prime contractors would pose risks to innovation and cost through limited or no competition in contracting for military aircraft and related weapon systems for the Defence Department. Describes that industry, evaluates what is required to maintain the industry at a high level of innovation, assesses industry's prospects for innovation and competition, and identifies policy options open to the DoD.

This study provides a program overview of acquisition options available for the Commonwealth of Australia s next generation naval surface combatant and identifies internal and external factors that can influence a major ship acquisition program. The authors address questions relating to available ship design and build options; various phases, options, and decisions; and aspects that can contribute to the success of an acquisition program."

Defense acquisition is one of the most urgent issues that the Department of Defense faces today. In an effort to provide the department and the nation with guidance on defense acquisition challenges, the authors present detailed proposals to improve defense acquisition through initiatives focused on competition, novel systems, risk management, organizational factors, prototyping, and the acquisition workforce.

The more accurately a cost index captures a shipbuilder's risk, the less the Navy should have to pay its shipbuilders. The Navy uses such indexes to correct for significant cost risks outside its shipbuilders' control. A longtime material-cost index in Navy shipbuilding is the steel-vessel index, but it is outdated and volatile. The authors urge the Navy to develop a modern-vessel index that more appropriately represents the materials used today.

Advises how the United Kingdom should best use modern outsourcing and outfitting practices for shipbuilding in the years to come. The United Kingdom's Ministry of Defence (MOD) is preparing for the construction of the Royal Navy's two new Future Aircraft Carriers (CVFs), slated to enter service in 2012 and 2015, respectively. The CVFs will be the largest warships built in the United Kingdom in decades. At the request of the MOD, the RAND Corporation looked at the risks of current contractor plans and estimated the cost implications of using alternative manufacturing options in the coming years.

Explores acceleration of the pace at which the U. S. Coast Guard can acquire surface and air assets that it will operate in the deepwater environment (50 or more nautical miles from shore) and whether the original Integrated Deepwater System program to modernize its aging cutters and aircraft will provide the Coast Guard with a force structure to meet the demands of its traditional missions and emerging responsibilities. 450-character abstract: Explores whether the pace at which the U. S. Coast Guard can acquire surface and air assets that it will operate in the deepwater environment (50 or more nautical miles from shore) can be accelerated and whether the original Integrated Deepwater System program to modernize its aging ships and aircraft will provide the Coast Guard with a force structure to meet the demands of its traditional missions and emerging responsibilities as part of the new Department of Homeland Security.

Explores the reasons for and ways to anticipate schedule delays in shipbuilding programmes. 450-character abstract: The Defence Procurement Agency, part of the UK Ministry of Defence, asked Rand to analyze how major shipbuilders and contractors monitor programme progress, to consider what information would be useful for shipbuilders to provide the agency, and to understand why ships are delivered late and why commercial shipbuilders maintain a much better schedule performance than do military builders. This monograph presents the researchers' findings and recommendations, which was based on surveys of major US, UK, and other European shipbuilders and other extensive industry research.

This book describes an analysis of strategies for the United Kingdom's Ministry of Defense to take in acquiring the TYpe 45, a new generation destroyer that will become a main component of the Royal Navy's surface fleet.

The length of time required for the US armed forces to acquire a new weapons system has long been a source of frustration to government. This title argues that force modernization requires the introduction of novel system concepts, and that the present process requires major reorganization.

This report documents research on the Medium Altitude Endurance (MAE) Unmanned Aerial Vehicle ACTD program (also known as the Predator UAV). What were the overarching lessons learned from the Predator ACTD, and which lessons can be generalized and applied to other ACTD programs? The authors detail the Predator ACTD and also document the important demonstration and transition issues from the project that can be applied to other ACTDs.

Examines ways in which the UK Ministry of Defence can reduce the whole-life costs and manpower requirements of the Royal Navy's two Future Aircraft Carriers (CVFs). In 2012 and 2015, respectively, the United Kingdom's Ministry of Defence will replace its three Invincible-class aircraft carriers with two Future Aircraft Carriers (CVFs), the largest ships ever constructed for the Royal Navy. The research described in this report focuses on possible reductions in whole-life costs and manpower requirements of the carriers.

In January 1993, the RAND National Defense Research Institute was asked by the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition to compare the practicality and cost of two approaches to future submarine production: (1) allowing production to shut down as currently programmed submarines are finished, then restarting it when more are needed, and (2) continuing low-rate production.

This report evaluates the feasibility of restarting weapon system production lines in response to a resurgent major threat and suggests steps that might be taken at shutdown to ease restart. The cost and schedule advantages of restart relative to new-system production are quantified. Criteria are identified for deciding which systems ought to be regarded as candidates for restart, and the application of the criteria is illustrated. Other reconstitution options (e.g. maintaining "warm" production lines, excess production for stockpiling) are briefly reviewed.