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Fighter Aircraft

Military aircraft such as the F-16 and Joint Strike Fighter, which are designed to perform air-to-air combat operations, are the primary means by which armed forces gain air superiority over their opponents in battle. RAND has studied fighter aircraft for many decades to provide civilian and military decisionmakers with critical recommendations on logistics, acquisition support, fleet modernization, and maintenance, to maximize effectiveness and innovation.

Report

Report

Needs, Effectiveness, and Gap Assessment for Key A-10C Missions: An Overview of Findings

This report analyzes several missions assigned to the A-10C aircraft and the needs this mission set could generate over the next five years. It also assesses existing and planned forces' effectiveness and capability gaps in performing those missions.

Mar 2, 2017
Report

Air Force Strategic Planning

With the U.S. Air Force facing pressure to reduce its headquarters staff, many question the utility of strategic planning and the need to produce public strategy documents. A look at past efforts finds that strategic planning is still needed, but perhaps not in its current form.

Feb 28, 2017
Report

Report

A Modeling Framework for Optimizing F-35A Strategic Basing Decisions to Meet Training Requirements

This report presents a modeling framework designed to identify basing locations for the F-35A fleet and training range locations that minimize flying costs associated with composite force training exercises for combat mission-ready pilots.

Dec 14, 2016
Commentary

China's PLAAF Pilot Training Program Undergoes Major Overhaul

China's People's Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) has made great strides in recent years to transform its pilot training program. PLAAF leaders understand many of the institutional and cultural weaknesses that impede effectiveness and are taking measures to address them.

Oct 27, 2016
Report

Assessing the Training and Operational Proficiency of China's Aerospace Forces: Selections from the Inaugural Conference of the China Aerospace Studies Institute (CASI)

This volume contains revised versions of three presentations on Chinese aerospace training and operational competence issues from a June 2015 China Aerospace Studies Institute (CASI) conference.

Oct 20, 2016
Commentary

China's Air Force Is Fixing Its Shortcomings

The prevailing view among Western observers is that Chinese fighter pilots lack the tactical mindset to engage and prevail in a dynamic, unscripted combat environment. But the PLAAF appears to have undertaken major reform in how it trains its pilots.

Oct 14, 2016
Report

From Theory to Practice: People's Liberation Army Air Force Aviation Training at the Operational Unit

This report seeks to assess People's Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) pilot proficiency by examining training held at operational aviation units in the context of the larger PLAAF training system.

Sep 20, 2016
Report

Report

Overview of People's Liberation Army Air Force "Elite Pilots"

This report draws on a wide variety of Chinese primary sources to provide an overview of how the Chinese People's Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) selects and trains what it calls its elite fighter pilots.

Aug 24, 2016
Report

Report

A Review of Selected International Aircraft Spares Pooling Programs: Lessons Learned for F-35 Spares Pooling

Development of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter was shared by nine countries, who agreed that F-35 sustainment assets would be managed as a global pool. This report reviews other military aircraft spares pooling programs to identify lessons learned.

Feb 18, 2016
Commentary

Inside the Fish Bowl: High Stakes Acquisition Protests

The Boeing-Lockheed Martin team filed a protest with the Government Accountability Office asserting that the U.S. Air Force's selection of Northrop Grumman to build the Long Range Strike-Bomber was fundamentally flawed. Work on the program, valued at approximately $80 billion, is now paused.

Dec 3, 2015
Report

Report

Reducing Air Force Fighter Pilot Shortages

Examines potential paths for overcoming the persistent and critical shortage of fighter pilots that the Air Force has faced over the past several decades.

Nov 24, 2015
Research Brief

U.S. and Chinese Air Superiority Capabilities

The United States maintains unparalleled air-to-air capabilities. But the modernization of Chinese air forces, combined with the difficulties of operating over long distances in Asia, would make it more and more challenging for the United States to gain air superiority during the beginning of a possible conflict with China.

Sep 14, 2015
Dissertation

Dissertation

Enhancing the Assessment of the Costs and Benefits of International Pilot Training (IPT) Within the U.S. Air Force: Is It Worth It?

Provides a perspective on valuing the total monetary cost and the operational monetary and nonmonetary benefits of international pilot training that have not been explored previously.

Mar 18, 2015
Commentary

Where Commonality Can Work in a Sixth-Gen Fighter

The DoD plans to fund a Darpa-Air Force-Navy technology demonstration program aimed at developing critical sixth-generation fighter capabilities. It's a sign that the Pentagon is adopting a cost-effective strategy but it will need to remain vigilant to avoid the pitfalls that have caused previous joint fighter programs to fall short of hoped-for cost savings and to accept unwelcome design compromises.

Mar 13, 2015
Report

Report

Air Force Major Defense Acquisition Program Cost Growth Is Driven by Three Space Programs and the F-35A: Fiscal Year 2013 President's Budget Selected Acquisition Reports

Analysis of weapon system acquisition programs showed that cost growth to date in four large-dollar programs must be contained to ensure the overall affordability of the Air Force's long-term investment plans.

Dec 17, 2014
Commentary

3 Weapons That Threaten Commercial Planes

It's relatively rare that commercial aircraft are targeted with weapons built primarily to attack military aircraft, but there are a range of potential threats from such weapons. Given that Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 was reportedly at 33,000 feet when contact was lost, it seems impossible that the attack could have occurred using a shoulder-fired missile.

Jul 18, 2014
Commentary

Will U.S. Air Power Work in Iraq?

There are many key questions regarding deployment of U.S. air power to Iraq to halt the progress of the Islamic State. How effective would it be? Would it cause a lot of civilian casualties? Is air power alone enough to achieve U.S. objectives?

Jun 18, 2014
Periodical

Falling Short: Joint Aircraft Fail to Deliver Anticipated Savings

A key purported benefit of joint aircraft is that they save money over separate aircraft for the military services, but joint aircraft programs have historically led to higher-than-expected lifecycle costs and necessitated major compromises in requirements and capability.

Apr 1, 2014
Multimedia

Do Joint Fighter Programs Save Money?

In this March 28th Congressional Briefing, Mark Lorell discusses how the need to accommodate different service requirements into a single jet fighter design or common design family leads to increased program complexity and cost growth.

Mar 28, 2014
Research Brief

The Department of Defense Should Avoid a Joint Acquisition Approach to Sixth-Generation Fighter

Incorporating different service requirements in a single joint aircraft design can lead to greater program complexity, increased technical risk, and weight in excess of what an individual service needs.

Jan 22, 2014

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RAND Topic:
Fighter Aircraft

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