Research Catalog

Title

Do joint fighter programs save money? / Mark A. Lorell, Michael Kennedy, Robert S. Leonard, Ken Munson, Shmuel Abramzon, David L. An, Robert A. Guffey.

Author

Lorell, Mark A., 1947-

Publication

Santa Monica, CA : RAND, 2013.

Items in the Library & Off-site

Holdings

Details

Additional Authors

• Abramzon, Shmuel,
• An, David L.,
• Guffey, Robert A.,
• Kennedy, Michael, 1949-
• Leonard, Robert S.
• Munson, Kenneth,
• Project Air Force (U.S.), issuing body.
• Project Air Force (U.S.). Resource Management Program.
• Rand Corporation, issuing body.
• Rand Corporation.
• United States. Air Force
• United States. Air Force, sponsoring body.

Description

xxv, 51 pages : color illustrations; 23 cm

Summary

In the past 50 years, the U.S. Department of Defense has pursued numerous joint aircraft programs, the largest and most recent of which is the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF). Joint aircraft programs are thought to reduce Life Cycle Cost (LCC) by eliminating duplicate research, development, test, and evaluation efforts and by realizing economies of scale in procurement, operations, and support. But the need to accommodate different service requirements in a single design or common design family can lead to greater program complexity, increased technical risk, and common functionality or increased weight in excess of that needed for some variants, potentially leading to higher overall cost, despite these efficiencies. To help Air Force leaders (and acquisition decisionmakers in general) select an appropriate acquisition strategy for future combat aircraft, this report analyzes the costs and savings of joint aircraft acquisition programs. The project team examined whether historical joint aircraft programs have saved LCC compared with single-service programs. In addition, the project team assessed whether JSF is on track to achieving the joint savings originally anticipated at the beginning of full-scale development. Also examined were the implications of joint fighter programs for the health of the industrial base and for operational and strategic risk.

Subject

• F-35 (Military aircraft)
• Fighter planes > United States > Costs
• Life cycle costing
• United States. Department of Defense > Costs

Note

• "RAND Project Air Force."

Bibliography (note)

• Includes bibliographical references (p. 41-51).

Additional Formats (note)

• Also available on the internet via WWW in PDF format.

Processing Action (note)

• committed to retain

Contents

Introduction -- Historical Joint Fighter and Other Joint Aircraft Programs: Analysis of Savings and Costs -- Joint Strike Fighter Program: Analysis of Savings and Costs -- Additional Implications of Joint Aircraft Programs -- Conclusions.

ISBN

• 0833074563 (pbk. : alk. paper)
• 9780833074560 (pbk. : alk. paper)

Owning Institutions

Harvard Library