Assessing Competitive Strategies for the Joint Strike Fighter: Opportunities and Options - Softcover

Birkler, John

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0833030094 ISBN 13: 9780833030092

Publisher: Rand Publishing, 2001

Synopsis

Defense policymakers in the U.S. expect that the Joint Strike Fighter will play a critical role in U.S. and allied military forces through the first half of the century. The Department of Defense's current Joint Strike Fighter axquisition strategy is a winner-take-all competition pitting Lockeed Martin against Boeing. This strategy has raised concerns of whether competition should be retained after Lockheed Martin or Boeing is selected to begin engineering and manufacturing development.

About this title

From the Publisher:

Defense policymakers in the United States expect that the Joint StrikeFighter (JSF) will play a critical role in U.S. and allied military forcesthrough the first half of this century. The Department of Defense's currentJSF acquisition strategy is a "winner-take-all" competition pitting LockheedMartin against Boeing. This strategy has raised concerns of whethercompetition should be retained after Lockheed Martin or Boeing is selectedto begin engineering and manufacturing development.In July 2000, the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology andLogistics asked RAND to explore and identify opportunities and options tointroduce competition during the production phase of the JSF. In their4-month-long study, RAND researchers used as their principal criterion thelikelihood that such competition would reduce the overall cost of JSFproduction, which is expected to total ~$300 billion in then-year dollars.They also made a more limited analysis of other plausible consequences ofcompetition, including savings in operations and support costs, reduction incost growth, and improvement in product quality, to the extent possiblewithin the study1s duration, as well as exploring how new competitivestrategies might affect foreign participation in the JSF program. U.S.allies could account for sales of an additional 3,000 JSF aircraft.Two policy implications resulted:... Policymakers should stick with the winner-take-all strategy for near-termdevelopment and production of the JSF. Despite the potential advantagesthat might accrue, establishing a competitive production line for part orall of the JSF would require a front-end investment, together with increasesin recurring costs, that probably would not be recovered through pricereductions that might result from competitive forces.... Policymakers should examine the costs and benefits of supporting a secondindustry team so that it could be capable of competing to develop andmanufacture the next major upgrade of the mission system equipment. Ifimplemented, this strategy would ensure that future managers have the optionof a competitive second source, one that might not otherwise be available.This book should be of special interest to the Office of the Secretary ofDefense, service and defense agency managers, and policymakers involved inweapon system acquisitions. It was prepared for the Under Secretary ofDefense (AT&L), within the Acquisition and Technology Policy Center ofRAND's National Defense Research Institute (NDRI). NDRI is a federallyfunded research and development center sponsored by OSD, the Joint Staff,the unified commands, and the defense agencies.

About the Author:

JOHN L. BIRKLER (Executive Management Program, 1991-1992, UCLA) is a Research Leader, Acquisition, Defense Production and Technology Base Issues, Acquisition and Technology Policy Center, National Defense Research Institute, RAND, Santa Monica, California.

Mark V. Arena (Stanford University Stanford, CA Ph.D. / Physical Chemistry) is a physical scientist at RAND.

MARK ALLEN LORELL (Ph.D., Modern Military and Diplomatic History, 1976, University ofWashington) is a senior analyst, RAND, International Studies Group at RAND.

FREDERICK S. TIMSON (Ph.D., Business Administration(Operations Research) is a senior cost analyst, Management Sciences Group, RAND, Santa Monica, CA.

Obaid Younossi (B.S. Mechanical Engineering University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA) is an engineer, Research Staff Management Division.

JOHN L. BIRKLER (Executive Management Program, 1991-1992, UCLA) is a research leader, Acquisition, Defense Production and Technology Base Issues, Acquisition and Technology Policy Center, National Defense Research Institute, RAND, Santa Monica, California.

Mark V. Arena (Stanford University Stanford, CA Ph.D. / Physical Chemistry) is a physical scientist at RAND.

Obaid Younossi (Diploma, Advanced Program Management Course Defense Systems Management College, Fort Belvoir, VA, May 1996) is an engineer, Research Staff Management Division at RAND.

Mark A. Lorell is a senior analyst in the international studies group at RAND whose research interests include weapon system acquisition policies and force structure modernization, and Japanese, Korean and NATO military force structure planning/issues, among other international policy studies.

FREDERICK S. TIMSON (Ph.D., Business Administration(Operations Research), 1969, UCLA) is a senior cost analyst, Management Sciences Group, RAND, SantaMonica, CA.

About this edition

• Publisher: Rand Publishing
• Publication date: 2001
• ISBN 10: 0833030094
• ISBN 13: 9780833030092
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 112