Why Has the Cost of Fixed-Wing Aircraft Risen? A Macroscopic Examination of the Trends in U.S. Military Aircraft Costs over the Past Several Decades

Abstract

In recent decades, cost escalation for military fixed-wing aircraft of all types has exceeded that of commonly used in inflation indices, including the Consumer Price Index, the Department of Defense procurement de deflator, and the Gross Domestic Product de deflator. A relatively fixed investment budget (albeit one with cyclical variations) means that the Services must somehow accommodate higher unit costs. This accommodation may mean buying fewer aircraft than in the past or it may mean reprioritizing budgets between acquisition and operations and support. This monograph explores the causes of this unit cost escalation, including both economy-driven factors that the Services cannot control and customer-driven factors that they can.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jan 01, 2008
Accession Number
ADA485503

Entities

People

  • Clifford Grammich
  • Irv Blickstein
  • Kevin Brancato
  • Mark V. Arena
  • Obaid Younossi

Organizations

  • RAND Corporation

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Air Platforms
  • Engineered Resilient Systems
  • Ground and Sea Platforms
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Air Force
  • Aircraft Equipment
  • Aircraft Industry
  • Aircrafts
  • Airframes
  • Attack Aircraft
  • Bomber Aircraft
  • Business Administration
  • Composite Materials
  • Environmental Protection
  • Fighter Aircraft
  • Fixed Wing Aircraft
  • Military Aircraft
  • Military Aviation
  • National Security
  • Transport Aircraft
  • Warfare

Readers

  • Industrial Economics
  • Life Cycle Cost Analysis
  • Strategic Security Studies