Robert Murphy

John F. Schank

Edward G. Keating

John Birkler

The more accurately a cost index captures a shipbuilder's risk, the less the Navy should have to pay its shipbuilders. The Navy uses such indexes to correct for significant cost risks outside its shipbuilders' control. A longtime material-cost index in Navy shipbuilding is the steel-vessel index, but it is outdated and volatile. The authors urge the Navy to develop a modern-vessel index that more appropriately represents the materials used today.

Using the Steel-Vessel Material-Cost Index to Mitigate Shipbuilder Risk

Mark V. Arena

Giles K. Smith

J. L. Birkler

Gordon Lee

In 2001, RAND helped the United Kingdom_s Ministry of Defence (MOD) evaluate different acquisition strategies that it might use to acquire the new-generation Type 45 destroyer. RAND_s analyses helped in determining whether the MOD should have the Type 45 built by one company or two, whether it should compete the 12 ships in the class or directly allocate work to specific shipbuilders, and whether companies producing the Type 45 should construct the destroyer in its entirety in one shipyard or from blocks produced in several shipyards.

Acquisition Options and Implications

The Royal Navy's New-generation Type 45 Destroyer

Kimberly Curry

Paul DeLuca

Kimberly Curry Hall

Jessie Riposo

Nuclear submarine design resources at the shipyards, their suppliers, and the Navy may erode for lack of demand. Analysis of alternative workforce and workload management options suggests that the U.S. Navy should stretch out the design of the next submarine class and start it early or sustain design resources above the current demand, so that the next class may be designed on time, on budget, and with low risk.

Sustaining U.S. Nuclear Submarine Design Capabilities

John F. Schank

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