Organic or contract support? Investigating cost and performance in aircraft sustainment

Over the past 15 years, the United States Air Force (USAF) has shifted toward utilizing more Contracted Logistics Support (CLS) and away from organic maintenance in their aircraft fleets. Given operating and support costs comprise 53-65% of total life-cycle costs for USAF aircraft, understanding the implications of these sustainment decisions is imperative. Utilizing a maintenance cost per flying hour metric and performing regression analysis, we find the maintenance strategy decision (CLS, mixed, or organic) is the most significant driver. We then examine performance metrics in relation to two established aircraft availability targets. Analysis of variance reveals statistically significant differences between maintenance strategies, with CLS outperforming organic in relation to the targets.

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The Spatial Disorientation Problem in the United States Air Force

Journal of Vestibular Research ◽

10.3233/ves-1992-2404 ◽

1992 ◽

Vol 2 (4) ◽

pp. 297-306

Author(s):

Kent K. Gillingham

Keyword(s):

United States ◽

Air Force ◽

Flight Control ◽

United States Air Force ◽

The United States ◽

Development Effort ◽

Training Methods ◽

Performance Information ◽

Spatial Disorientation ◽

And Performance

Spatial disorientation (SD) in flight wastes hundreds of millions of dollars worth of defense capability annually and continues to kill aircrew. SD results primarily from inadequacies of human visual and vestibular sensory systems in the flying environment; but other factors, such as task saturation and distraction, precipitate it. The United States Air Force is conducting a three-pronged research and development effort to solve the SD problem. We are attempting 1) to elucidate further the mechanisms of visual and vestibular orientation and disorientation, 2) to develop ground-based and inflight training methods for demonstrating to pilots the potential for SD and the means of coping with it, and 3) to conceive and evaluate new ways to display flight control and performance information so that pilots can maintain accurate spatial orientation.

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Quantifying the Effects of Aircraft Engine Upgrades on Operating and Support Costs

Defense Acquisition Research Journal ◽

10.22594/10.22594/dau.20-862.28.03 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 28 (97) ◽

pp. 320-343

Author(s):

Bradford A. Myers ◽

Edward D. White ◽

Jonathan D. Ritschel ◽

R. David Fass

Keyword(s):

Air Force ◽

Fuel Efficiency ◽

Aircraft Engine ◽

Life Cycle Costs ◽

Aircraft Engines ◽

Maintenance Costs ◽

Support Costs ◽

Fuel Costs ◽

The U.S ◽

Total Life

For fixed wing aircraft within the U.S. Air Force, Operating and Support (O&S) costs encompass a large portion of total life-cycle costs. O&S costs include fuel, maintenance, and engine upgrades. To the authors’ knowledge, no study to date has attempted to empirically quantify the realized effects of new aircraft engines on sustainment costs. Utilizing the Air Force Total Ownership Cost database, they focused on new engines appearing on the C-5s, C-130s, and C-135s. Although narrow in scope, results suggest newer engines have lower fuel costs. Maintenance costs for newer engines were not consistently higher or lower than the engines they replaced, although Contractor Logistics Support was not tracked by engine in this study. We found that savings from improved fuel efficiency tended to be greater than a potential increase in maintenance costs.

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