Managing Nuclear Modernization Challenges for the U.S. Air Force: A Mission-Centric Approach

Abstract

After decades of near neglect, the Air Force is embarking on a vast modernization of its portion of the nation's nuclear deterrence capabilities - but these modernization activities face a range of challenges. Nuclear-specific tasks related to testing and certification have not been performed at scale for many decades and will need to be relearned and revised for the current conditions. The sheer scale of the programs is daunting. And this ambitious set of programs will be fielded by Air Force Global Strike Command (AFGSC), a relatively young command with relatively small staff that has limited experience in fielding new systems. This report identifies and describes means to allay these challenges. The authors focus on the integrated planning and preparation for mission success across individual programs, with a special emphasis on the challenges of operational testing and nuclear certification.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jan 01, 2019
Accession Number
AD1088637

Entities

People

  • Brian P Dolan
  • Don A. Snyder
  • George Nacouzi
  • Jake Mckeon
  • John S. Meyers
  • Kurt Klein
  • Sherrill Lingel
  • Thomas Hamilton

Organizations

  • RAND Corporation

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Counter WMD
  • Cyber
  • Materials and Manufacturing Processes
  • Space
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Air Force
  • Air Force Facilities
  • Ballistic Missiles
  • Command And Control
  • Command And Control Systems
  • Employment
  • Inertial Navigation
  • Information Systems
  • Interagency Coordination
  • Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles
  • Lessons Learned
  • Military Science
  • Systems Engineering
  • Test And Evaluation
  • Test Facilities
  • Test Methods
  • United States

Readers

  • Software Engineering
  • Strategic Security Studies
  • Systems Analysis and Design