Defining an Approach for Future Close Air Support Capability

Abstract : The Army Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR) Office asked the RAND Arroyo Center to conduct research on the close-support capabilities available in recent conflicts to help inform future planning decisions. Initially, the research the office requested was to include a broad set of close-support capabilities; however, this research subsequently refocused specifically on close air support (CAS) capabilities in recent conflict and the possible implications for the future. The research provides an overview of the requirements process that led to existing CAS capabilities, contains information from warfighters, and includes the results of an assessment using state-of-the-art machine learning methods for coding to extract information on CAS capabilities that were provided to the Army over the past decade or so. This work should be of interest to a broad range of technologists, concept developers, materiel developers, and many others in the defense acquisition community.