Report
A Survey of Aircraft Structural-Life Management Programs in the U.S. Navy, the Canadian Forces, and the U.S. Air Force
May 1, 2006
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In recent years, budget pressures and high replacement costs have forced the U.S. Air Force to keep aircraft in service longer than originally intended. Aging aircraft face potentially serious structural problems. For example, structural deteriorations due to fatigue can lead to cracks and even complete fractures. There is growing concern in the Air Force that structural deteriorations are increasing, thus raising the maintenance workload, reducing aircraft readiness, and potentially increasing safety risks.
The Air Force has successfully ensured structural safety for decades through its Aircraft Structural Integrity Program (ASIP). The program involves design, analysis, and testing activities to ensure that the aircraft structure is adequate to operate as intended. These activities provide information to aid fleet-management decisions, such as creating inspection and maintenance plans and setting modification priorities. In recent years, however, there have been concerns that budget pressures, diminishing program regulations, and challenges in communicating structural conditions and structural needs to decisionmakers may be leading to omission or incomplete performance of ASIP tasks.
To aid the Air Force in its effort to strengthen and improve ASIP, RAND Project AIR FORCE (PAF) surveyed structural-life management programs in the U.S. Navy, the Canadian Forces, and the U.S. Air Force. Researchers drew several key insights about the benefits and limitations of various approaches to policy guidance, regulations, and the organizational structure of the ASIP program:
Regulations, communications, and resource-management approaches are highly interdependent and need to complement each other to achieve ASIP effectiveness. The Air Force should consider several options for enhancing ASIP:
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