Injecting Competition in the Joint Strike Fighter Production Program. Can a Winner-Take-All Environment Become More Competitive

Abstract

The Department of Defense (DoD) should stick with its winner-take-all strategy to develop and produce the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF)-which is slated to become the workhorse fighter for the Air Force, Navy, and Marine Corps. But as a hedge to ensure that later versions of this next-generation aircraft have the most effective and innovative radar, computer, and software technologies, the DoD should consider spending money to keep a second developer and producer of these vital electronics components in the market. An investment in a second source of such mission systems, the electronics eyes and ears of the JSF, could be relatively modest. But it would provide future decisionmakers with the option to competitively develop a next-generation mission system source when and if it were needed.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jan 01, 2001
Accession Number
ADA394096

Entities

Organizations

  • RAND Corporation

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Air Platforms
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Air Force
  • Aircrafts
  • Airframes
  • Competition
  • Cost Reductions
  • Costs
  • Demographic Cohorts
  • Department Of Defense
  • Ejection Seats
  • Electronics
  • Fighter Aircraft
  • Marine Corps
  • National Security
  • Procurement
  • Production
  • United States
  • Weapon Systems

Readers

  • Government Contracting/Procurement.
  • Naval Engineering and Maritime Security
  • Systems Analysis and Design

Technology Areas

  • Microelectronics