This report summarizes a selection of the defense acquisition literature from the 1960s to the present on potential sources of prolonged acquisition cycle times and schedule growth, as well as potential opportunities for improvement. It presents the range of possible causes of schedule-related problems and various recommendations cited for improving schedules by various authors and organizations.

In-sourcing has gained momentum in recent years, but producing definitive guidance that can be used to objectively determine the appropriate balance between contractor and government staff has proven quite challenging. The authors review the recent history of sourcing in the Department of Defense, assess relevant laws and policies, offer interpretations of key terms, and describe an approach to implementing current in-sourcing guidance.

Explores the reasons for and ways to anticipate schedule delays in shipbuilding programmes. 450-character abstract: The Defence Procurement Agency, part of the UK Ministry of Defence, asked Rand to analyze how major shipbuilders and contractors monitor programme progress, to consider what information would be useful for shipbuilders to provide the agency, and to understand why ships are delivered late and why commercial shipbuilders maintain a much better schedule performance than do military builders. This monograph presents the researchers' findings and recommendations, which was based on surveys of major US, UK, and other European shipbuilders and other extensive industry research.

Assesses whether shipyards, other naval firms, and suppliers in the United Kingdom have sufficient capacity to meet the demands of the Ministry of Defence's construction of new ships and submarines over the next 15 years. The United Kingdom has many contracted and prospective shipbuilding programmes on the horizon over the next two decades. The UK Ministry of Defence wants to know whether its country's diminishing industrial base will be able to meet the requirements of this shipbuilding plan. Using extensive surveys and a breadth of data, RAND researchers look at the capacity of the UK shipbuilding industrial base and how alternative acquisition requirements, programmes, and schedules might affect this capability.

Examines ways in which the UK Ministry of Defence can reduce the whole-life costs and manpower requirements of the Royal Navy's two Future Aircraft Carriers (CVFs). In 2012 and 2015, respectively, the United Kingdom's Ministry of Defence will replace its three Invincible-class aircraft carriers with two Future Aircraft Carriers (CVFs), the largest ships ever constructed for the Royal Navy. The research described in this report focuses on possible reductions in whole-life costs and manpower requirements of the carriers.