Examination of the U.S. Air Force's Aircraft Sustainment Needs in the Future and Its Strategy to Meet Those Needs (2011) / Chapter Skim
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3 Assessment of Current Sustainment Investments, Infrastructure, and Processes
3 Assessment of Current Sustainment Investments, Infrastructure, and Processes
Pages 65-86
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From page 65... ...
Sustainment investments are found in multiple elements of the Air Force budget in part because of the fact that sustainment cuts across all aspects of weapon system life cycles. The Air Force faces a number of sustainment challenges, including aging of aircraft systems, rapid advances in technology, and increasing costs.
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From page 66... ...
Consider the following quotes from the 2009 DoD Weapon System Acquisition Reform Product Support Assessment: Acquisition processes pay too little attention to supportability and consistently trade down-stream sustainability for required capability or program survival. Some Program Managers assert that "logistics is their only discretionary account", making it a frequent target for inevitable resource reductions.
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From page 67... ...
Dunn, Director of Transformation, Deputy Chief of Staff for Logistics, Installations and Mission Support, Headquarters United States Air Force. "Expeditionary Logistics for the 21st Century (eLog21)
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From page 68... ...
SOURCE: Grover L Dunn, Director of Transformation, Deputy Chief of Staff for Logistics, Installations and Mission Support, Headquarters U.S.
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From page 69... ...
This forum has been charged to ensure that sustainment considerations are fully repre sented as part of the development process for new weapon systems, as mandated in DoD Instruction 5000.02 and DoD Weapon System Acquisition Reform Product Support Assessment.8,9 The Air Force's research and development (R&D) activities are conducted in the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL)
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From page 70... ...
CURRENT RESOURCES AND INVESTMENTS Through 2007, the Air Force experienced a significant reduction in funding for O&M, a key driver of the sustainment enterprise. Several factors contributed to this reduction, including contingency operations, increasing fuel costs, aging aircraft spares requirements, costs associated with BRAC actions, and lost savings due to congressional restrictions on retirement and divestment of legacy aircraft.
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From page 71... ...
Growth in sustainment costs for these systems is the result of increasing costs and increasing aircraft inventories in some cases. These funding pressures have left the Air Force with an aging fleet that re quires more funds to operate at viable levels that meet aircraft availability targets.
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From page 72... ...
s . A i R f o Rc e ' s A i Rc R A f t s U s tA i n m e n t n e e d s fUtURe 72 in the statement that the Air Force would "improve depot and supply chain business processes to sustain weapon systems."13 Finding 3-2.
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From page 73... ...
Specifically, the categories of depot-level reparables and consumable supplies should be considered when viewing sustainment in the larger construct. These costs, which are key components of the Air Force flying hour program, comprise an additional $2.6 billion in sustainment costs.
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From page 74... ...
As Figure 3-5 shows in the row entitled "Actual/Estimated Inv," the Air Force investments in depot maintenance production/facilities and equipment were approximately $3 billion over the past 8 years. The Air Force is actually exceeding the requirements of 10 U.S.C.
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From page 75... ...
Improved planning in response to requirements, flexible manufacturing concepts with a focus on maintenance and repair capabilities, and integration of appropriate repair and maintenance technologies would allow the Air Force to find efficiencies and improve costs. More than 100 aircraft were in for some type of maintenance or repair at Warner-Robins Air Logistics Center (WR-ALC)
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From page 76... ...
s . A i R f o Rc e ' s A i Rc R A f t s U s tA i n m e n t n e e d s fUtURe 76 in the TABLE 3-1 Comparison of the Needed Maintenance Costs Versus the Budgets Millions of Dollars Base Needs Budget Tinkera >985 32-55 Odgenb >800 4 Warner-Robinsc 4-5 aFloyd Craft, Director, 547th Propulsion Maintenance Squadron.
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From page 77... ...
Covered in this chapter, however, are workforce,21 acquisition, the supply chain, maintenance processes, resourcing efforts, Fleet Viability Board efforts, logistics 20 Floyd Craft, 547th Propulsion Maintenance Squadron director. "Engine Test Cell Strategy." Pre sentation to the committee on January 12, 2011.
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From page 78... ...
However, long-term concerns exist as retirements increase and systems move from CLS to organic support. Equally important to the overall sustainment activities is the engineering staff for depot maintenance support.
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From page 79... ...
During the acquisition process, a systems view of the platform with a definition of the total life cycle is required to accurately reflect realistic requirements. Lessons learned from current plat 25 Captain Fred Melnick et al., Fleet Readiness Center Southwest, Roundtable Discussion, March 29 2011.
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From page 80... ...
The committee observed several examples of very effective and reasonably efficient contractor-operated supply chains. For example, in its partnership with Boeing for C-17 lifecycle support, the Air Force has retained limited core depot maintenance capability and maximized the use of the contractor support and supply system, which has led to a significant reduction in cost per flight hour as highlighted by Figure 3-6.
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From page 81... ...
Finding 3-7. Collaborative partnerships with contractor-operated supply chains have resulted in improved efficiencies and lowered costs.28 Maintenance Processes Maintenance processes consist of field and depot activities that allow the platforms to be ready for service.
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From page 82... ...
High Velocity Maintenance (HVM) is one example of Air Force efforts to im prove depot maintenance processes.
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From page 83... ...
Fleet Viability Board The Fleet Viability Board provides technical assessments of aging aircraft to both the SECAF and the Chief of Staff of the Air Force (CSAF)
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From page 84... ...
costs per available aircraft. The Fleet Viability Board does not believe that current sustainment investments, infrastructure, and processes are adequate to sustain aging legacy systems and their support equipment because of competition for funding and the short-term view of sustainment.
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From page 85... ...
eLog21 shows promise in driving improvements to Air Force logistics support and WSS. The campaign deserves full visibility and should be the direct responsibility of the sustainment commander.34 Obsolescence and Diminishing Manufacturing Sources Obsolescence and diminishing manufacturing sources are two conditions that can affect the production and sustainment of the platforms.
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From page 86... ...
Activities such as eLog21 and HVM are aimed at improving processes for maintenance. 35 Sue Lumpkins, Deputy Director of Logistics, Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff for Logistics, Installations and Mission Support, Headquarters United States Air Force.
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