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

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.

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.