While sustainment strategies do not guarantee successful outcomes, they serve as a tool to guide operations as well as support planning and implementation of activities through the life-cycle of the aircraft. Specifically, at a high-level the strategy is aimed at integrating requirements, product support elements, funding, and risk management to provide oversight of the aircraft. For example, these sustainment strategies can be documented in a life-cycle sustainment plan, postproduction support plan, or an in-service support plan, among other types of documented strategies. Additionally, program officials stated aircraft sustainment strategies are an important management tool for the sustainment of the aircraft by documenting requirements that are known by all stakeholders, including good practices identified in sustaining each aircraft.
1. Key support program elements include developing support equipment and technical data, testing requirements for avionics, and facilities requirements
2. Experiencing maintenance and supply issues. actions to mitigate these challenges include waiting for available space at depots and cannibalizing parts— moving parts from one aircraft to another
3. Maintenance challenges include whether the maintenance occurs in close proximity to the squadron, capacity of depots, and personnel
4. Shortage of depot and field maintenance personnel due to attrition, inability to find skilled workers, and a hiring freeze.
5. Ongoing and planned actions include establishing additional maintenance support for a number of systems such as the electronic warfare system and the generator control unit
6. Increasing the available depot maintenance spaces, training depot and field maintainers to be proficient in repairing parts of the aircraft outside their assigned position; and allowing depot and field maintainers to work overtime to keep up with maintenance schedules.
7. Experiencing shortages of parts because , it takes a long time to repair parts. Also, contractors are no longer producing some of these parts
8. Ongoing and planned actions include locating another vendor source, reverse engineering, cannibalizing parts i.e., removing serviceable parts from one aircraft and installing them in another aircraft, or waiting until the part is available
9. Unit manpower, operations, and maintenance costs have decreased, partly because permanently transitioned out of service
10. In-Service Support Plan documents the engineering, logistics, and financial resources necessary to ensure continued readiness and supportability for the remainder of the aircraft’s service life
11. Aircraft are maintained organically under planned maintenance intervals
12. Extend the service life flight hours by inspecting and repairing airframes, and replacing major components and parts
13. Actions to mitigate these challenges include extending the service life of the aircraft, allowing maintainers to work overtime to reduce backlog, and cannibalizing parts—moving parts from one aircraft to another
14. Cost of depot-level reparables is the most significant contributor to maintenance costs, averaging while the “other” maintenance accounted for the smallest share of maintenance costs
15. Ongoing and planned actions include extending the service life flight hours through its replacing major components including the landing gear—to increase the service life of the aircraft, and moving aircraft between squadrons to meet the requirements of deploying missions.
16. Requiring additional maintenance for repairs that were not originally planned, such as repairs for corrosion, and maintenance activities are taking longer to perform.
17. Shortage of depot and field maintenance personnel because of attrition, inability to find skilled workers, and a hiring freeze
18. Ongoing and planned actions include: training personnel on prevention and mitigation efforts for unplanned maintenance, such as corrosion
19. Identifying all parts and components that need to be repaired and replaced during the inspection phase
20. Training depot and field maintainers to be proficient in repairing parts of the aircraft outside their assigned position, as well as allowing depot and field maintainers to work overtime to keep up with maintenance schedules
21. Experiencing shortages of parts because vendors are no longer producing these items
22. Ongoing and planned actions include identifying alternate vendors
23. Reverse engineering parts, cannibalizing parts i.e., removing serviceable parts from one aircraft and installing them in another aircraft and waiting until parts become available
24. Training maintainers to transition to vacated positions, and cannibalizing parts—removing parts from one aircraft to another
25. Increases in maintenance costs can be attributed to the high operational tempo of the aircraft requiring additional maintenance repairs, which is taking longer to perform
26. Cost of depot-level reparables is the most significant contributor to maintenance costs while the “other” maintenance accounted for the smallest share of maintenance costs
27. Ongoing and planned actions include plans to extend the service life to increase its flight hours through modifications, repairs, and inspection
28. Monitoring depot induction flows, and obtaining contractor support to assist with initial program challenges, including knowledge, skills, and facilities.
29. Shortage of depot and field maintenance personnel due to attrition, inability to find skilled workers, and hiring freezes has caused maintenance backlogs
30. Ongoing and planned actions include corrosion prevention efforts, such as a corrosion-resistance initiative and corrosion action teams to identify corrosion early in the inspection phase
31. Depot and field maintainers trained to be proficient in repairing parts of the aircraft outside their assigned position
32. Allowing depot and field maintainers to work overtime to keep up with maintenance schedules
33. Experiencing shortages of parts that suppliers are no longer producing. suppliers are slow, which increases maintenance wait times
34. Maintenance costs have generally increased due to the increase in contractor logistics support.
35. While depot inductions were down, the time the aircraft spent in depot increased, which caused the cost increase
36. Ongoing and planned actions include implementing corrosion plan revised to military standards and contracting for corrosion-specific engineering assess
37. Contractor commercial-based maintenance plan, which does not focus on long-term structural issues that require inspection and maintenance, instead of a military-based plan
38. Current plan has inefficiencies in discovering and repairing unplanned issues
39. Ongoing and planned actions include rewriting and implementing the depot maintenance plan to military standards
40. Improve time aircraft spends in depot, the contractor adopted a gated process to track the stages of repair and ensure issues are identified as early as possible
41. No established supply chain for the part, so lack of availability is extending the maintenance time.
42. Diminishing manufacturing sources and vanishing vendors are an issue for other parts, such as those affecting the aircraft’s secure data capabilities
43. Ongoing and planned actions include creating a pylon mid-spar fitting facility with dedicated space and personnel, developing a process to swap pylons between aircraft, and changing the parts-ordering methodology
44. Maintains a diminishing manufacturing source plan with options to mitigate, upgrade, or obtain waivers for parts
45. Identifying all parts that need to be replaced during the inspection phase of maintenance, and identifying alternate vendors for parts
46. Aircraft are maintained organically and through contract maintenance at the designated air logistics complex and field locations
47. Depot-level repair upgrades are performed organically, while contractors are used to conduct some maintenance, such as field maintenance repair
48. Service Life Extension Program identified life-limiting structural components through durability testing
49. Developing modifications and repair designs, validating modification and a repair kit
50. Requiring additional maintenance for repairs that were not originally planned, such as replacing the bulkhead, longerons, and skins i.e., repair of major structural elements that may exhibit areas of cracking related to stress
51. Mitigation efforts include to counter corrosion by identifying all parts and components that need to be repaired and replaced during the phase inspection
52. Experiencing shortages of parts because of diminishing manufacturing sources and increasing need for low-demand items
53. Ongoing and planned actions include identifying alternate vendors, reverse-engineering parts, and cannibalizing parts from other aircraft.
54. Strategy ensuring that short-term initiatives support long-term objectives, while lowering costs, improving quality, and reducing process and lead time
55. Initiatives to support sustainment, such as maintaining a comprehensive diminishing manufacturing sources program
56. Proactively supporting the continued sustainment of component parts of the aircraft through various replacement programs to drive continuous improvement in availability
57. Issues with its low observable coating and supply funding
58. Contracting a repair facility to conduct coating reversion repair and securing additional spares funding
59. Requires extra repairs for corrosion and aging of low-observable coating
60. Shortage of maintenance personnel due to attrition, inability to find skilled workers, and a hiring freeze
61. Ongoing and planned actions to counter corrosion, by identifying all parts that need to be repaired and replaced during the inspection phase
62. Mitigates low observable issue, by depot reversion repair and an Inlet Coating Repair Speedline
63. Counters skilled worker shortage, by piloting a robotic solution to apply the low-observable coating.
64. Experiencing shortages of parts because vendors are not producing some items and were not positioned to support the increase in flying hours
65. Ongoing actions include maintaining a comprehensive Diminishing Manufacturing Sources program to minimize material shortages
66. Investing in improvements to improve durability and maintainability, to include the low-observable coating
67. Actions to mitigate challenges include moving aircraft to deploying squadrons, upgrading aircraft components, and locating other vendor sources for parts
68. Strategies focusing on the engine to make sure the aircraft can continue meeting missions
69. Moving aircraft between squadrons to meet the requirements of deploying missions
70. Requiring additional maintenance for repairs that were not originally planned due to the aging airframe
71. Identifying all parts and components that need to be repaired and replaced during the inspection phase, keeping up with maintenance schedules
72. Conducting analyses on major components and upgrading as needed
73. Increasing awareness of maintainers and other personnel to mitigate foreign-object damage
74. Not enough contracts in place to increase demand for manufacturers to keep production lines open
75. Sustainment planning focused on major components, such as the engine, landing gear, and avionics system, among others.
76. Actions to mitigate challenges include moving aircraft to deploying squadrons, training maintainers to transition to vacated positions, and locating other vendor sources for parts
77. Increased demand for outer wing panels because these parts are reaching their life limit
78. Ongoing and planned actions include moving aircraft between squadrons to meet the requirements of deploying missions
79. Requiring additional maintenance for repairs that were not originally planned, such as repairs for the propeller system and outer wing panels, which are nearing flight hour limit
80. Maintenance is taking longer because more parts need to be repaired and replaced.
81. Conducting system performance studies to identify maintenance tasks to mitigate potential failures
82. Identifying all parts and components that need to be repaired and replaced during the inspection phases
88. Maintenance is taking longer because more parts need to be repaired and replaced
89. Conducting system performance studies to identify maintenance tasks to mitigate potential failures
90. Identifying all parts and components that need to be repaired and replaced during the inspection phase,
91. Training depot and field maintainers and other personnel to transition to vacated positions and to be proficient in repairing all parts of the aircraft
92. Troubleshooting component failures, and cannibalizing parts— moving parts from one aircraft to another
93. Some components experiencing faster failure rates than originally planned, resulting in increased maintenance requirements of the aircraft
94. Avionics system much heavier than the airframe can support, resulting in additional weight and balance checks as well as airframe maintenance issues
95. Inspections of critical structure and systems, with repair conducted as needed along with known incoming defects requiring repair or replacement
96. Experiencing stress and fatigue in its airframe and components include increase in landing gear structure cracks
97. Finding cracks in the lower segment, a beam providing airframe structural support
98. Repairing for corrosion while the aircraft is undergoing other heavy maintenance or repairs at a designated base helps to minimize aircraft down time.
99. Working to directly hire skilled workers to allow managers to quickly install qualified candidates for critical positions.
100. Ongoing and planned actions include upgrading aircraft systems before they become obsolete, locating another vendor source, redesigning parts, purchasing additional parts to maintain a supply source, and accessing the virtual fleet program to acquire parts from around the world.
1. Key support program elements include developing support equipment and technical data, testing requirements for avionics, and facilities requirements
2. Experiencing maintenance and supply issues. actions to mitigate these challenges include waiting for available space at depots and cannibalizing parts— moving parts from one aircraft to another
3. Maintenance challenges include whether the maintenance occurs in close proximity to the squadron, capacity of depots, and personnel
4. Shortage of depot and field maintenance personnel due to attrition, inability to find skilled workers, and a hiring freeze.
5. Ongoing and planned actions include establishing additional maintenance support for a number of systems such as the electronic warfare system and the generator control unit
6. Increasing the available depot maintenance spaces, training depot and field maintainers to be proficient in repairing parts of the aircraft outside their assigned position; and allowing depot and field maintainers to work overtime to keep up with maintenance schedules.
7. Experiencing shortages of parts because , it takes a long time to repair parts. Also, contractors are no longer producing some of these parts
8. Ongoing and planned actions include locating another vendor source, reverse engineering, cannibalizing parts i.e., removing serviceable parts from one aircraft and installing them in another aircraft, or waiting until the part is available
9. Unit manpower, operations, and maintenance costs have decreased, partly because permanently transitioned out of service
10. In-Service Support Plan documents the engineering, logistics, and financial resources necessary to ensure continued readiness and supportability for the remainder of the aircraft’s service life
11. Aircraft are maintained organically under planned maintenance intervals
12. Extend the service life flight hours by inspecting and repairing airframes, and replacing major components and parts
13. Actions to mitigate these challenges include extending the service life of the aircraft, allowing maintainers to work overtime to reduce backlog, and cannibalizing parts—moving parts from one aircraft to another
14. Cost of depot-level reparables is the most significant contributor to maintenance costs, averaging while the “other” maintenance accounted for the smallest share of maintenance costs
15. Ongoing and planned actions include extending the service life flight hours through its replacing major components including the landing gear—to increase the service life of the aircraft, and moving aircraft between squadrons to meet the requirements of deploying missions.
16. Requiring additional maintenance for repairs that were not originally planned, such as repairs for corrosion, and maintenance activities are taking longer to perform.
17. Shortage of depot and field maintenance personnel because of attrition, inability to find skilled workers, and a hiring freeze
18. Ongoing and planned actions include: training personnel on prevention and mitigation efforts for unplanned maintenance, such as corrosion
19. Identifying all parts and components that need to be repaired and replaced during the inspection phase
20. Training depot and field maintainers to be proficient in repairing parts of the aircraft outside their assigned position, as well as allowing depot and field maintainers to work overtime to keep up with maintenance schedules
21. Experiencing shortages of parts because vendors are no longer producing these items
22. Ongoing and planned actions include identifying alternate vendors
23. Reverse engineering parts, cannibalizing parts i.e., removing serviceable parts from one aircraft and installing them in another aircraft and waiting until parts become available
24. Training maintainers to transition to vacated positions, and cannibalizing parts—removing parts from one aircraft to another
25. Increases in maintenance costs can be attributed to the high operational tempo of the aircraft requiring additional maintenance repairs, which is taking longer to perform
26. Cost of depot-level reparables is the most significant contributor to maintenance costs while the “other” maintenance accounted for the smallest share of maintenance costs
27. Ongoing and planned actions include plans to extend the service life to increase its flight hours through modifications, repairs, and inspection
28. Monitoring depot induction flows, and obtaining contractor support to assist with initial program challenges, including knowledge, skills, and facilities.
29. Shortage of depot and field maintenance personnel due to attrition, inability to find skilled workers, and hiring freezes has caused maintenance backlogs
30. Ongoing and planned actions include corrosion prevention efforts, such as a corrosion-resistance initiative and corrosion action teams to identify corrosion early in the inspection phase
31. Depot and field maintainers trained to be proficient in repairing parts of the aircraft outside their assigned position
32. Allowing depot and field maintainers to work overtime to keep up with maintenance schedules
33. Experiencing shortages of parts that suppliers are no longer producing. suppliers are slow, which increases maintenance wait times
34. Maintenance costs have generally increased due to the increase in contractor logistics support.
35. While depot inductions were down, the time the aircraft spent in depot increased, which caused the cost increase
36. Ongoing and planned actions include implementing corrosion plan revised to military standards and contracting for corrosion-specific engineering assess
37. Contractor commercial-based maintenance plan, which does not focus on long-term structural issues that require inspection and maintenance, instead of a military-based plan
38. Current plan has inefficiencies in discovering and repairing unplanned issues
39. Ongoing and planned actions include rewriting and implementing the depot maintenance plan to military standards
40. Improve time aircraft spends in depot, the contractor adopted a gated process to track the stages of repair and ensure issues are identified as early as possible
41. No established supply chain for the part, so lack of availability is extending the maintenance time.
42. Diminishing manufacturing sources and vanishing vendors are an issue for other parts, such as those affecting the aircraft’s secure data capabilities
43. Ongoing and planned actions include creating a pylon mid-spar fitting facility with dedicated space and personnel, developing a process to swap pylons between aircraft, and changing the parts-ordering methodology
44. Maintains a diminishing manufacturing source plan with options to mitigate, upgrade, or obtain waivers for parts
45. Identifying all parts that need to be replaced during the inspection phase of maintenance, and identifying alternate vendors for parts
46. Aircraft are maintained organically and through contract maintenance at the designated air logistics complex and field locations
47. Depot-level repair upgrades are performed organically, while contractors are used to conduct some maintenance, such as field maintenance repair
48. Service Life Extension Program identified life-limiting structural components through durability testing
49. Developing modifications and repair designs, validating modification and a repair kit
50. Requiring additional maintenance for repairs that were not originally planned, such as replacing the bulkhead, longerons, and skins i.e., repair of major structural elements that may exhibit areas of cracking related to stress
51. Mitigation efforts include to counter corrosion by identifying all parts and components that need to be repaired and replaced during the phase inspection
52. Experiencing shortages of parts because of diminishing manufacturing sources and increasing need for low-demand items
53. Ongoing and planned actions include identifying alternate vendors, reverse-engineering parts, and cannibalizing parts from other aircraft.
54. Strategy ensuring that short-term initiatives support long-term objectives, while lowering costs, improving quality, and reducing process and lead time
55. Initiatives to support sustainment, such as maintaining a comprehensive diminishing manufacturing sources program
56. Proactively supporting the continued sustainment of component parts of the aircraft through various replacement programs to drive continuous improvement in availability
57. Issues with its low observable coating and supply funding
58. Contracting a repair facility to conduct coating reversion repair and securing additional spares funding
59. Requires extra repairs for corrosion and aging of low-observable coating
60. Shortage of maintenance personnel due to attrition, inability to find skilled workers, and a hiring freeze
61. Ongoing and planned actions to counter corrosion, by identifying all parts that need to be repaired and replaced during the inspection phase
62. Mitigates low observable issue, by depot reversion repair and an Inlet Coating Repair Speedline
63. Counters skilled worker shortage, by piloting a robotic solution to apply the low-observable coating.
64. Experiencing shortages of parts because vendors are not producing some items and were not positioned to support the increase in flying hours
65. Ongoing actions include maintaining a comprehensive Diminishing Manufacturing Sources program to minimize material shortages
66. Investing in improvements to improve durability and maintainability, to include the low-observable coating
67. Actions to mitigate challenges include moving aircraft to deploying squadrons, upgrading aircraft components, and locating other vendor sources for parts
68. Strategies focusing on the engine to make sure the aircraft can continue meeting missions
69. Moving aircraft between squadrons to meet the requirements of deploying missions
70. Requiring additional maintenance for repairs that were not originally planned due to the aging airframe
71. Identifying all parts and components that need to be repaired and replaced during the inspection phase, keeping up with maintenance schedules
72. Conducting analyses on major components and upgrading as needed
73. Increasing awareness of maintainers and other personnel to mitigate foreign-object damage
74. Not enough contracts in place to increase demand for manufacturers to keep production lines open
75. Sustainment planning focused on major components, such as the engine, landing gear, and avionics system, among others.
76. Actions to mitigate challenges include moving aircraft to deploying squadrons, training maintainers to transition to vacated positions, and locating other vendor sources for parts
77. Increased demand for outer wing panels because these parts are reaching their life limit
78. Ongoing and planned actions include moving aircraft between squadrons to meet the requirements of deploying missions
79. Requiring additional maintenance for repairs that were not originally planned, such as repairs for the propeller system and outer wing panels, which are nearing flight hour limit
80. Maintenance is taking longer because more parts need to be repaired and replaced.
81. Conducting system performance studies to identify maintenance tasks to mitigate potential failures
82. Identifying all parts and components that need to be repaired and replaced during the inspection phases
88. Maintenance is taking longer because more parts need to be repaired and replaced
89. Conducting system performance studies to identify maintenance tasks to mitigate potential failures
90. Identifying all parts and components that need to be repaired and replaced during the inspection phase,
91. Training depot and field maintainers and other personnel to transition to vacated positions and to be proficient in repairing all parts of the aircraft
92. Troubleshooting component failures, and cannibalizing parts— moving parts from one aircraft to another
93. Some components experiencing faster failure rates than originally planned, resulting in increased maintenance requirements of the aircraft
94. Avionics system much heavier than the airframe can support, resulting in additional weight and balance checks as well as airframe maintenance issues
95. Inspections of critical structure and systems, with repair conducted as needed along with known incoming defects requiring repair or replacement
96. Experiencing stress and fatigue in its airframe and components include increase in landing gear structure cracks
97. Finding cracks in the lower segment, a beam providing airframe structural support
98. Repairing for corrosion while the aircraft is undergoing other heavy maintenance or repairs at a designated base helps to minimize aircraft down time.
99. Working to directly hire skilled workers to allow managers to quickly install qualified candidates for critical positions.
100. Ongoing and planned actions include upgrading aircraft systems before they become obsolete, locating another vendor source, redesigning parts, purchasing additional parts to maintain a supply source, and accessing the virtual fleet program to acquire parts from around the world.
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