RAND Project Air Force

RAND Project Air Force (PAF) is a Congressionally mandated Federally Funded Research and Development Center (FFRDC) dedicated to providing the Department of the Air Force (DAF) and Congressional leaders with research-based analysis to inform decisions on critical challenges and policy issues. The overarching goal of PAF is to support the success of warfighters, address accelerated threats from China and Russia, and integrate air, space, and cyber capabilities to maintain U.S. strategic advantage. PAF's research findings are intended to maximize lethality and readiness, save resources, and provide actionable recommendations on high-priority programs, including advanced aircraft, missile forces, and long-range strike systems.

China-Russia Center is a specific line item within PAF, established at the request of the Secretary of the Air Force to ensure focused annual research on adversary perspectives, particularly those of China and Russia. The Center's objectives include analyzing China's influence campaigns across operational levels and assessing Russian and Chinese chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear (CBRN) doctrine and capabilities. It also aims to increase DAF knowledge and skillsets required for great power competition. These research efforts align with National Defense Strategy (NDS) priorities of deterring aggression, building a resilient joint force, and maintaining information advantage. The Center receives annual funding to ensure sustained research output.

Strategy & Doctrine supports ongoing research and analysis focused on great power competition, global security, security cooperation, and homeland defense. Key objectives include securing U.S. advantages in space, advancing ally and partner domain awareness, integrating wargaming into Air Force planning, and leveraging allied support for logistics and sustainment. These projects are closely aligned with NDS priorities such as deterring strategic attacks, campaigning, and anchoring in allies and partners. Funding for this line item ensures the Air Force can address evolving security challenges and maintain core competencies in strategic planning and operational innovation.

Force Modernization and Employment provides research and analysis on air and space operations, emerging technologies, and force modernization. The program's goals include developing operational shared awareness tools for tactical command and control, testing and operationalizing asymmetric capabilities against China, and defining requirements for space warfighting management. It also ensures counter-maritime capabilities meet national needs. Research in this area supports NDS themes of integrated deterrence, force planning, and mitigating adversary anti-access/area-denial capabilities. Continued funding allows for comprehensive analysis of technology feasibility, performance, cost, and risk across intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance, mobility, and nuclear domains.

Workforce Development and Health focuses on personnel recruitment, training, readiness, retention, and well-being. The program aims to revolutionize defense workforce management, model assignment durations for readiness and retention, and explore human-machine teaming in command and control systems. It also seeks to improve basic military training for joint operational challenges. These efforts are designed to build a resilient joint force and defense ecosystem, as outlined in the NDS. Research addresses future requirements for tactical air control systems and large-scale combat operations, ensuring the Air Force maintains a capable and adaptive workforce.

Resource Management supports research on systems acquisition, industrial base issues, logistics for deployment and sustainment, and weapon-system cost estimating. Projects include shifting sustainment from efficiency to effectiveness, analyzing depot surge capacity, overcoming barriers to data sharing with coalition partners, expediting sortie generation, and assessing gaps in nuclear modernization. This line item is critical for planning, programming, and budgeting, as well as infrastructure resilience and energy management. Continued funding is necessary to sustain core competencies in logistics, readiness, and industrial base analysis.

Integrative Research/Direct Support encompasses analytical research across a wide spectrum of aerospace issues, providing direct support to DAF leadership. The program's objectives are to deliver integrative research that addresses emerging challenges and supports decision-making across air, space, and cyber domains. Funding for this line item ensures the Air Force can respond rapidly to changing environments and maintain a high level of analytical capability.