Download or read book Report on Sustaining Air Force Aging Aircraft Into the 21st Century written by United States. USAF Scientific Advisory Board and published by . This book was released on 2011 with total page 211 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "As many of its fleets of legacy aircraft types are kept in service well beyond their planned services lives (sometimes in age, sometimes in usage, sometimes both), the United States Air Force (USAF) faces numerous engineering and resource challenges for the continued, cost effective sustainment of those aging systems. This report details the recommendations made by the USAF Scientific Advisory Board's Sustaining Aging Aircraft (SAA) Study to best position the Air Force to meet those challenges. The SAA Study Panel visited a cross section of military and commercial aircraft maintenance organizations to assess sustainment practices and identify technologies that can extend system life and ease maintenance costs. The Study identified specific aircraft systems, in addition to structures and engines, that contribute to safety, availability, and effectiveness for aging aircraft; examined commercial practices in airlines, air freight services, and other industries, and evaluated how they might be applied to meet USAF needs; and identified technology needs and technology approaches that can be applied or developed to extend life or ease maintenance of these aircraft systems, while facilitating future adaptations and performance enhancements of the aircraft."--p. 211.

Download or read book Aging of U S Air Force Aircraft written by National Research Council and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 1997-10-30 with total page 125 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Many of the aircraft that form the backbone of the U.S. Air Force operational fleet are 25 years old or older. A few of these will be replaced with new aircraft, but many are expected to remain in service an additional 25 years or more. This book provides a strategy to address the technical needs and priorities associated with the Air Force's aging airframe structures. It includes a detailed summary of the structural status of the aging force, identification of key technical issues, recommendations for near-term engineering and management actions, and prioritized near-term and long-term research recommendations.

Download or read book Challenges and Issues with the Further Aging of U S Air Force Aircraft written by J. R. Gebman and published by Rand Corporation. This book was released on 2009 with total page 81 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Over the next 20 years, the further aging of already-old aircraft will introduce challenges and issues for aircraft operators. The technical challenges relate to structures, propulsion, and systems. The institutional challenges include limitations on independent verification of fleet status and future condition and on information needed for engineering analyses including risk assessment, and an overall scarcity of resources.

Download or read book Zero Sustainment Aircraft for the U S Air Force written by National Research Council and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2013-03-12 with total page 57 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Overall Air Force weapon system sustainment (WSS) costs are growing at more than 4 percent per year, while budgets have remained essentially flat. The cost growth is due partly to aging of the aircraft fleet, and partly to the cost of supporting higher-performance aircraft and new capabilities provided by more complex and sophisticated systems, such as the latest intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) platforms. Furthermore, the expectation for the foreseeable future is that sustainment budgets are likely to decrease, so that the gap between budgets and sustainment needs will likely continue to grow wider. Most observers accept that the Air Force will have to adopt new approaches to WSS if it is going to address this problem and remain capable of carrying out its missions. In this context, the original intent of this 3-day workshop was to focus on ways that science and technology (S&T) could help the Air Force reduce sustainment costs. However, as the workshop evolved, the discussions focused more and more on Air Force leadership, management authority, and culture as the more critical factors that need to change in order to solve sustainment problems. Many participants felt that while S&T investments could certainly help-particularly if applied in the early stages ("to the left") of the product life cycle-adopting a transformational management approach that defines the user-driven goals of the enterprise, empowers people to achieve them, and holds them accountable, down to the shop level. Several workshop participants urged Air Force leaders to start the process now, even though it will take years to percolate down through the entire organization. These sustainment concerns are not new and have been studied extensively, including recent reports from the National Research Council's Air Force Studies Board and the Air Force Scientific Advisory Board.

Download or read book Materials and Manufacturing Capabilities for Sustaining Defense Systems written by National Research Council and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2013-03-29 with total page 87 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Standing Committee on Defense Materials Manufacturing and Infrastructure (DMMI) conducted a workshop on July 23-24, 2012, to share information and gather perspectives on issues concerning Materials and Manufacturing Capabilities for Sustaining Defense Systems. This workshop, held at the headquarters building of the National Academies, 2101 Constitution Avenue N.W., Washington D.C., was conducted according to the procedures of the National Research Council (NRC) for a convening activity. That is, all workshop participants-including presenters, members of the DMMI standing committee, Reliance 21, invited guests, and visitors-spoke as individuals, and no overall findings, conclusions, or recommendations were developed during or as a result of the workshop. All statements and views summarized in this publication are attributable only to those individuals who expressed them. It is worth noting that the sponsor, Reliance 21, is a Department of Defense group of professionals that was established to enable the DOD science and technology (S&T) community to work together to enhance Defense S&T programs, eliminate unwarranted duplication, and strengthen cooperation among the military services and other DOD agencies. The DMMI standing committee named a workshop planning group to develop the workshop agenda and decide on invited guests and presenters, in accordance with the statement of task approved by the Governing Board of the NRC. The planning group also consulted with the Reliance 21 materials and processing community of interest. The presentations and discussions during the workshop are summarized sequentially in the main part of this report. As an aid to readers, nine themes have been identified by the author that recurred in multiple presentations and discussions. Materials and Manufacturing Capabilities for Sustaining Defense Systems: Summary of a Workshop explains these nine themes and summarizes the two day workshop.

Download or read book Zero Sustainment Aircraft for the U S Air Force written by National Research Council and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2013-04-12 with total page 57 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Overall Air Force weapon system sustainment (WSS) costs are growing at more than 4 percent per year, while budgets have remained essentially flat. The cost growth is due partly to aging of the aircraft fleet, and partly to the cost of supporting higher-performance aircraft and new capabilities provided by more complex and sophisticated systems, such as the latest intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) platforms. Furthermore, the expectation for the foreseeable future is that sustainment budgets are likely to decrease, so that the gap between budgets and sustainment needs will likely continue to grow wider. Most observers accept that the Air Force will have to adopt new approaches to WSS if it is going to address this problem and remain capable of carrying out its missions. In this context, the original intent of this 3-day workshop was to focus on ways that science and technology (S&T) could help the Air Force reduce sustainment costs. However, as the workshop evolved, the discussions focused more and more on Air Force leadership, management authority, and culture as the more critical factors that need to change in order to solve sustainment problems. Many participants felt that while S&T investments could certainly help-particularly if applied in the early stages ("to the left") of the product life cycle-adopting a transformational management approach that defines the user-driven goals of the enterprise, empowers people to achieve them, and holds them accountable, down to the shop level. Several workshop participants urged Air Force leaders to start the process now, even though it will take years to percolate down through the entire organization. These sustainment concerns are not new and have been studied extensively, including recent reports from the National Research Council's Air Force Studies Board and the Air Force Scientific Advisory Board.

Download or read book Red Is Good Transformational Changes for US Air Force Aircraft Maintenance written by Colonel Usaf Paul J McAneny and published by CreateSpace. This book was released on 2012-09-22 with total page 46 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Over the last two decades, the Air Force's fleet of aircraft has shrunk 40 percent, while the average inventory age has increased from eight years in 1973 to a projected 26.5 years by 2012. Concurrently, this smaller, older fleet has been tasked with 2.3 million flight hours per year since the end of Operation Desert Storm. In an environment of flat bud-gets, limited manpower, and an aging, shrinking fleet, the Air Force seeks cultural transformations to remain the world's premier air, space, and cyberspace force. The trans-formation initiative Air Force Smart Operations for the 21st Century (AFSO21) was designed to increase productivity, responsiveness, and efficiency, thus improving equipment readiness, reliability, and availability. Given the mixed results of past transformation efforts, has AFSO21 achieved the desired effects? Col Paul "P. J." McAneny offers an analysis focused on aircraft maintenance but applicable to the entire force and recommends cultural changes to support lasting transformation. He ex-amines the impact of metrics on transformation and evaluates the USAF aircraft maintenance culture. He asks several questions: Can focused metrics precede cultural change? Does the aircraft maintenance community support a Red Is Good culture, in which metrics are used to illuminate problems rather than measure success or failure? If so, is the community a true learning organization that can maximize its impact through continuous process-improvement initiatives? The answers lead Colonel McAneny to recommend several Air Force-level changes to meet long-term aircraft readiness and reliability targets.

Download or read book Tactical Aircraft written by United States. General Accounting Office and published by . This book was released on 2001 with total page 80 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Tactical aircraft modernization plans will not reduce average age of aircraft report to the secretary of defense written by and published by DIANE Publishing. This book was released on with total page 80 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Aging Aircraft Implications for Programmed Depot Maintenance and Engine Support Costs written by and published by . This book was released on 1999 with total page 11 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: RAND Project AIR FORCE'S long term interest in the topic of aging aircraft was rekindled in 1994, when we participated in the Air Force Scientific Advisory Board Summer Study that raised technical concerns about the viability of retaining certain aircraft past their original design lives. In 1997, the National Research Council's report on aging USAF aircraft reinforced those concerns. At that time, we initiated a modest Air Force sponsored research effort focused on emerging technical challenges for aircraft maintenance activities. Last summer we built on that technical background to examine the potential effects that aging aircraft would have on the costs of programmed depot maintenance (PDM) and engine support. The results of that work are documented in the annotated briefing that has been made available to the subcommittee. This year, we have broadened our review to cover other support and modernization activities where aircraft age may affect costs and readiness.

Download or read book The U S Air Force in Space 1945 to the Twenty First Century Proceedings written by Air Force Historical Foundation. Symposium and published by Department of the Air Force. This book was released on 1998-09-02 with total page 216 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Contains papers presented at the Air Force Historical Foundation Symposium, held at Andrews Air Force Base, Maryland, on September 21-22, 1995. Topics addressed are: Pt. 1, The Formative Years, 1945-1961; Pt. 2, Mission Development and Exploitation Since 1961; and Pt. 3, Military Space Today and Tomorrow. Includes notes, abbreviations & acronyms, an index, and photographs.

Download or read book Aging Aircraft written by Raymond Pyles and published by Rand Corporation. This book was released on 2003 with total page 193 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: To help improve the Air Force's ability to foresee the implications for safety, aircraft availability, and cost of its plans to retain aircraft fleets for service lives that may be as long as 80 years, and to identify actions that will mitigate or avoid some of the more severe consequences, this study measures how the USAF aircraft fleets' ages relate to maintenance and modification workloads and material consumption.

Download or read book Aging of U S Air Force Aircraft written by and published by . This book was released on 1997 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The U.S. Air Force requested the National Research Council to identify research and development (R & D) needs and opportunities to support the continued operation of their aging aircraft. Specifically, this study focuses on aging aircraft structures and materials and has the major objectives of 1. developing an overall strategy that addresses the Air Force aging aircraft needs 2. recommending and prioritizing specific technology opportunities in the areas of fatigue, corrosion fatigue, and stress corrosion cracking corrosion, prevention and mitigation, nondestructive inspection maintenance and repair, failure analysis and life prediction methodologies. The approach that the committee took to accomplish this study was to conduct working sessions to identify current aging aircraft problems and technology needs; review ongoing and planned aging aircraft R & D efforts by the Air Force; and review related research at other government agencies, within industry and in the academic research community.

Download or read book Examination of the U S Air Force s Aircraft Sustainment Needs in the Future and Its Strategy to Meet Those Needs written by National Research Council and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2011-11-17 with total page 254 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The ability of the United States Air Force (USAF) to keep its aircraft operating at an acceptable operational tempo, in wartime and in peacetime, has been important to the Air Force since its inception. This is a much larger issue for the Air Force today, having effectively been at war for 20 years, with its aircraft becoming increasingly more expensive to operate and maintain and with military budgets certain to further decrease. The enormously complex Air Force weapon system sustainment enterprise is currently constrained on many sides by laws, policies, regulations and procedures, relationships, and organizational issues emanating from Congress, the Department of Defense (DoD), and the Air Force itself. Against the back-drop of these stark realities, the Air Force requested the National Research Council (NRC) of the National Academies, under the auspices of the Air Force Studies Board to conduct and in-depth assessment of current and future Air Force weapon system sustainment initiatives and recommended future courses of action for consideration by the Air Force. Examination of the U.S. Air Force's Aircraft Sustainment Needs in the Future and Its Strategy to Meet Those Needs addresses the following topics: Assess current sustainment investments, infrastructure, and processes for adequacy in sustaining aging legacy systems and their support equipment. Determine if any modifications in policy are required and, if so, identify them and make recommendations for changes in Air Force regulations, policies, and strategies to accomplish the sustainment goals of the Air Force. Determine if any modifications in technology efforts are required and, if so, identify them and make recommendations regarding the technology efforts that should be pursued because they could make positive impacts on the sustainment of the current and future systems and equipment of the Air Force. Determine if the Air Logistics Centers have the necessary resources (funding, manpower, skill sets, and technologies) and are equipped and organized to sustain legacy systems and equipment and the Air Force of tomorrow. Identify and make recommendations regarding incorporating sustainability into future aircraft designs.

Download or read book A Concise History of the U S Air Force written by Stephen Lee McFarland and published by Createspace Independent Publishing Platform. This book was released on 1997 with total page 96 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Except in a few instances, since World War II no American soldier or sailor has been attacked by enemy air power. Conversely, no enemy soldier orsailor has acted in combat without being attacked or at least threatened by American air power. Aviators have brought the air weapon to bear against enemies while denying them the same prerogative. This is the legacy of the U.S. AirForce, purchased at great cost in both human and material resources.More often than not, aerial pioneers had to fight technological ignorance, bureaucratic opposition, public apathy, and disagreement over purpose.Every step in the evolution of air power led into new and untrodden territory, driven by humanitarian impulses; by the search for higher, faster, and farther flight; or by the conviction that the air way was the best way. Warriors have always coveted the high ground. If technology permitted them to reach it, men, women andan air force held and exploited it-from Thomas Selfridge, first among so many who gave that "last full measure of devotion"; to Women's Airforce Service Pilot Ann Baumgartner, who broke social barriers to become the first Americanwoman to pilot a jet; to Benjamin Davis, who broke racial barriers to become the first African American to command a flying group; to Chuck Yeager, a one-time non-commissioned flight officer who was the first to exceed the speed of sound; to John Levitow, who earned the Medal of Honor by throwing himself over a live flare to save his gunship crew; to John Warden, who began a revolution in air power thought and strategy that was put to spectacular use in the Gulf War.Industrialization has brought total war and air power has brought the means to overfly an enemy's defenses and attack its sources of power directly. Americans have perceived air power from the start as a more efficient means of waging war and as a symbol of the nation's commitment to technology to master challenges, minimize casualties, and defeat adversaries.

Download or read book Report of the Secretary of Defense to the President and the Congress written by United States. Department of Defense and published by . This book was released on 1997 with total page 792 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Flight Accidents in the 21st Century U S Air Force written by Henry Bond and published by McFarland. This book was released on 2018-12-20 with total page 202 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Mid-flight noncombat mishaps and blunders occur frequently in the USAF during training and utility flights--sometimes with the loss of life and regularly with the destruction of expensive aircraft. In one extreme case, a $2.2 billion B-2 Spirit bomber crashed soon after takeoff and was destroyed. The events surrounding such accidents are gathered by USAF investigators and a report is published for each case. The author has collected these reports, including some made available following FOI (Freedom of Information) requests to U.S. air bases, and rewritten them in language accessible to the general public. The causes--bird-strikes, joy-riding, unauthorized maneuvers, pilot disorientation, an unseen binoculars-case blocking the plane's joystick, unexpected moisture in an air-pressure gauge--are often surprising and, at times, horrifying.